Sylvester

Boy name

Sylvester has been given to 43,857 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It peaked in 1920.

Meaning & origin /sɪlˈvɛstɚ/

Borrowed from Latin sylvester (“woody, rural”) from silva (“wood”); name of a saint whose feast day falls on December 31.

Origin: Latin

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Hover or tap the chart to read any year.

Total babies

43,857

Peak year

1920 (819 babies)

Rank in 2025

Below top 1000

First recorded

1880

10-year trend

▼ -12%

Gender split

1% girls / 99% boys

Sly Stone

American musician, singer, guitarist, and record producer (1943–2025)

Sylvester McCoy

Scottish actor (born 1943)

Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).

Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Sylvester.

44,449 babies since 1880

45,389 babies since 1880

40,193 babies since 1880

39,997 babies since 1880

39,246 babies since 1900

39,129 babies since 1880

49,017 babies since 1880

36,600 babies since 1880

Occasional updates when we add new data & tools. No spam, unsubscribe anytime by replying to any email or writing to hello@zalize.com.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. We store only your email address and the date you signed up.