Sylus
A rare given name possibly derived from the Greek word "silos" meaning "sword".
Name Census estimates that about 1,168 living Americans carry the first name Sylus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sylus today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sylus births was 2013 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sylus. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Sylus with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Sylus is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 293,454 Americans
Peak year
2013
84 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,659
Tracked since 1998
Census
Sylus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 820 people with the first name Sylus, which placed it at #14,393 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
#14,393
National first-name rank
People counted
820
820 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sylus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sylus is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.8%) and Two or More Races (9.9%). 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 Sylus 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 Sylus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.3% · 503
- Hispanic or Latino19.8% · 162
- Two or more races9.9% · 81
- Black or African American4.4% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 16
Popularity
Sylus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sylus from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 674 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sylus remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sylus 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 Sylus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sylus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Sylus, while Washington, Oklahoma, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sylus
The name Sylus is of ancient Greek origin, emerging from the linguistic roots of the word "sylos," which translates to "pillager" or "plunderer." This name carries a rich historical tapestry, dating back to the classical era of Greek civilization.
In the early days of ancient Greece, the name Sylus was often bestowed upon warriors and soldiers who displayed exceptional valor and skill in battle. It was a name synonymous with strength, bravery, and the ability to overcome adversaries through strategic cunning and brute force.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Sylus can be found in the epic poem "The Iliad" by Homer, where a character bearing this moniker is described as a formidable warrior who fought alongside the legendary heroes of the Trojan War.
Throughout the centuries, the name Sylus has been carried by numerous notable figures, each leaving an indelible mark on the annals of history. One such individual was Sylus of Cyrene, a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 4th century BCE. He is renowned for his contributions to the field of geometry and his work on the properties of conic sections.
In the realm of ancient warfare, Sylus of Sparta stands out as a prominent figure. Born in 510 BCE, he was a Spartan general who led his troops to victory against the Persians during the Greco-Persian Wars, earning him a place in the pantheon of Spartan military leaders.
The name Sylus also found its way into the pages of Roman history, with Sylus Quintus Fabius, a Roman statesman and politician who lived during the 2nd century BCE. He was renowned for his diplomatic skills and played a pivotal role in negotiating treaties between Rome and its allies.
Another notable bearer of the name was Sylus Maximus, a Roman general and military strategist who lived in the 1st century CE. He gained fame for his successful campaigns against the Germanic tribes, solidifying the Roman Empire's dominance in the northern regions of Europe.
As the centuries passed, the name Sylus continued to resonate across various cultures and civilizations, with individuals carrying this moniker leaving their mark on history through their accomplishments in fields ranging from literature and philosophy to warfare and statesmanship.
People
Sylus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sylus 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
Sylus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sylus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,168 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sylus 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 293,454 US residents.
Is Sylus a common name?
We classify Sylus as "Rare". It ranks above 91.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,178 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sylus most popular?
The single biggest year for Sylus was 2013, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sylus is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sylus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 820 people with the name Sylus, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,393 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 Sylus 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 Sylus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sylus appears almost entirely male. Of the 821 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Sylus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sylus is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.8%) and Two or More Races (9.9%). 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 Sylus most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sylus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (503 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 Sylus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sylus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sylus in the SSA data are male. 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 Sylus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sylus 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 Sylus 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 Sylus?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.