Syliva
From Greek origin, meaning "spirit of the woods".
Name Census estimates that about 368 living Americans carry the first name Syliva. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Syliva today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Syliva births was 1960 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Syliva. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
368
~ 1 in 931,398 Americans
Peak year
1960
23 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1988 SSA rank
#13,631
Tracked since 1916
Census
Syliva in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 380 people with the first name Syliva, which placed it at #25,078 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#25,078
National first-name rank
People counted
380
380 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
39.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Syliva
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Syliva is Hispanic at 39.2%. The next largest groups are White (35.3%) and Black (18.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Syliva described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Syliva at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino39.2% · 149
- White35.3% · 134
- Black or African American18.7% · 71
- Two or more races3.7% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 6
Popularity
Syliva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Syliva from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 167 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Syliva remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Syliva by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Syliva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sylivas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Syliva
The name Syliva is derived from the Latin word "silva," which means "forest" or "woods." Its origins can be traced back to ancient Roman times when it was used as a surname or a feminine form of the name Silvius, which was a popular Roman name.
In ancient Roman mythology, Silvius was the name of a mythical king of Alba Longa, a city located in the Alban Hills near Rome. The name Silvius was also associated with the Roman god of forests and fields, Silvanus.
The earliest recorded use of the name Syliva dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was relatively uncommon. One notable historical figure with this name was Syliva de Lens, a 12th-century French noblewoman who was known for her piety and charitable works.
In the Renaissance period, the name gained some popularity among the upper classes in Europe, particularly in Italy and France. One famous bearer of the name was Syliva Piccolomini, an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts in the 16th century.
The name Syliva also had some literary associations. In the 17th century, the English writer John Milton used the name Sylvia for a character in his pastoral poem "Lycidas." This helped to popularize the name in English-speaking countries.
Another notable figure with the name Syliva was Syliva Plath, the influential American poet and novelist who lived from 1932 to 1963. Her semi-autobiographical novel "The Bell Jar" is considered a classic of 20th-century literature.
In the world of classical music, Syliva del Pilar was a renowned Spanish soprano who performed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was particularly acclaimed for her interpretations of the works of composers such as Verdi and Puccini.
Overall, while not an extremely common name throughout history, Syliva has been borne by a number of notable figures across various fields, from literature and the arts to nobility and philanthropy.
People
Syliva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Syliva as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Syliva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Syliva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 368 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Syliva going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 931,398 US residents.
Is Syliva a common name?
We classify Syliva as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 485 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Syliva most popular?
The single biggest year for Syliva was 1960, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Syliva is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Syliva in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 380 people with the name Syliva, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,078 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Syliva in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Syliva?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Syliva appears almost entirely female. Of the 382 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Syliva?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Syliva is Hispanic at 39.2%. The next largest groups are White (35.3%) and Black (18.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Syliva most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Syliva in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.2% (149 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Syliva in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Syliva a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Syliva in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Syliva still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Syliva in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Syliva can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Syliva?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.