The baby name Sylvia combines a surprising number of references and historical ties to create a familiar, under-the-radar name that truly has it all.
Thanks to Kim and Another for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
THE MEANING of SYLVIA
Names like Willow and Ocean seem more obvious, but Sylvia is a nature name, too.
It comes from the Latin word silva, meaning forest. Sylvester and Silas share the same roots. (Silas comes from Silvanus.) So does our word sylvan, a poetic word referring to a forest.
SYLVIA in MYTHOLOGY
Legend tells that Rhea Silvia gave birth to Romulus and Remus, who went on to found the city of Rome.
Her story is dark and sorrowful. (This is mythology, after all.) Their father is Mars, the Roman god of war. Rhea Silvia ends tragically, and her boys are raised by a wolf instead.
It’s often depicted in art and re-told in literature.
There’s also Silvanus, a minor god of the woods, also in Roman myth.
SYLVIA in the ANCIENT WORLD
The legendary kings of Alba Longa – part of the story of Rome – included the Silvian Dynasty. They all took the name Silvius, or so the story goes. They pre-date the founding of the city of Rome by Romulus by several centuries.
Depending on the story, the name commemorates the birth of the first Silvius in the woods, or possibly the hiding of Silvius in the same.
Regardless, forms of Silvius were clearly in use in the ancient world.
Fast forward to the sixth century, and the future Saint Silvia was the mother of Pope Saint Gregory the Great.
SHAKESPEARE’S SILVIO
By the Middle Ages, the name Silvio is in use in Italy, and presumably Silvia, too.
In English, William Shakespeare used the name Silvia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. It’s one of his earliest plays. His Silvia is the daughter of a Duke. It’s a romantic comedy with plenty of mistaken identity and such.
While Shakespeare drew inspiration from Jorge de Montemayor’s pastoral romance Diana, the name might have a different backstory.
In Italian commedia dell’arte, Silvia was one of dozens of stock characters. Silvia was one of the innamorati – characters who existed to fall in love in an over-the-top, dramatic fashion. The approach to theater emerges just a few decades before Shakespeare started writing.
By the late 1500s, then, Silvia was known in English.
SYLVAINE and SYLVIE
While Silvia remains the preferred spelling in Italian and Spanish, the English-speaking world favors Sylvia.
Credit might go to French. Both Sylvaine and Sylvie emerged as feminine forms.
Sylvia bridges Silvia and the French forms.
MID-CENTURY SYLVIAS
The baby name Sylvia was boosted time and time again during the twentieth century.
George Cukor’s 1939 classic movie The Women starred Rosalind Russell as Sylvia. It was based on a Clare Booth Luce play from 1936. The play and movie were a sort of forerunner to Sex and the City. (When it was updated in 2008, Annette Bening played a character called Sylvie.)
Sylvia Plath lends the name a literary edge. The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author is best remembered for her poems, as well as the semi-autobiographical The Bell Jar, and for her tragic death in 1963.
Silvia Sommerlath married King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in 1976. She’s been known as Queen Silvia ever since. The pair met at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. The queen speaks six languages, and is known for her charitable work on behalf of children.
BY the NUMBERS
Through all of this, the baby name Sylvia has never left the US Top 1000.
It peaked in the 1910s, and rose again into the 1930s, becoming even more popular. In fact, it ranked in the US Top 100 as recently as 1952.
No surprise, then, that Sylvia fell out of favor. By the year 2000, it stood at a chilly #497. It must’ve felt like a cousin to an earlier generation of names: Patricia, Shirley, Nancy, Judith, and Carol, maybe?
But like all of those former favorites, the baby name Sylvia is not easily forgotten.
As parents went wild for Sophia and other girls’ names ending with IA, Sylvia started to show signs of an early revival.
By 2023, the baby name Sylvia ranked #426. That’s not nearly as popular as the name has been in the past, but it’s a bit of a recovery.
Also noteworthy: the baby name Sylvie ranks #425. Combined, the sound is more popular than it first appears.
TRADITIONAL and TIMELESS
The baby name Sylvia, along with Silvia, remains in heavy rotation across the western world. But it’s not a style star at the moment.
Instead, Sylvia has emerged as a traditional, timeless choice. It’s less common than Sophia or Olivia, but shares sounds with both of those chart-topping favorites.
It’s a strong choice for a daughter, in use across millennia, quietly tied to the natural world, literature, and pop culture, too.
Another, I’m totally with you (and yes, I’m Kayt). Lola, to my very American ear, if there is a name ending in something else, but especially A, like Sylvia, Sophia, Emma, Jenna, etc. have corresponding nicknames: Sylvie, Sophie, Emmy, Jenny, etc. If you’re French, it makes sense to be Sylvie or Sophie, but most people will assume it’s a nickname for a more common, longer name.
It just sounds the same as if you were to name your child Mikey, Davey, or Debbie. To an ear used to nicknames ending in -ie, Sylvie fits right in. It doesn’t sound like a formal name; it sounds like a nickname.
I must learn to word things so Brits don’t get offended by my typical American sensibilites.
Yeah, but not everywhere, Another. I should have asked “Why are Americans unable to remember that Sylvie & Sophie (in particular) are French names, a la Danielle, Michelle, Renee et al”? I really must remember to word things more precisely. My fault. sorry!
Lola, typically, names that end in -ie, -y, or -i are nicknames:
Jenny
Dani
Charlie
Kenny
Stewie
Stevie
Margie
Connie
etc.
Sylvie fits in there, too.
Hey DH! Sylvia’s not middle aged, she’s almost seriously Old Lady! Like I said before, Sylvia’s pushing 75 for me! Sylvia in my head is friends/playmates with Evelyn, Susan, Brenda, Geraldine, Phyllis, Barbara & Carol (Rhonda was way down in the 800’s in 1940) But I’ll give you Linda ! 😀
Why does everyone feel Sylvie’s a nickname? It’s the French version of old lady Sylvia. (Just as Sophie is the French version of Sophia, which I still think is old lady!) And Silvia is strictly hispanic for me (I live in an area witha huge Brasilian community and Siliva is there in spades amongst the 20 somethings. I hear it frequently downtown).
I still don’t get why most feel Sylvie’s a nickname, *sigh* That’s just wrong to me. Would someone try to explain it? I always end up odd man out on one level or another. Well, that’s normal at least. Count me odd, I prefer lighthearted, happy, silvery Sylvie and that’s just the way I roll… apparently. 😆
I love Sylvia. Sylvie is cute for a nickname. I would probably use it as a middle name though, but it is pretty.
Sylvia has so much that makes it perfect for my family—the meaning, the Italian connection, the Shakespeare connection, the poetic connection—that I want to love it passionately. BUT, I have to agree with Lola that it still feels a bit middle-aged to me. Sylvia is best buds with Rhonda and Linda, right?
Silvia actually freshens it up a bit for me. It looks a little more multi-cultural and *now* to me. However, I don’t know that I would ever want to saddle a kid with the less common spelling of a name.
Sylvie is adorable but sounds too much like a nickname to me to stand on its own. So many variables with this one . . . I don’t know if it’s something I could make work or if I should just let it go.
I like Sylvia. I like that she reminds me of the woods – I picture dappled sunlight on a bed of pine needles when I say the name out loud. I also like the way her name sounds silvery. It’s a nice homophonic link if nothing else. I have a great-aunt Sylvia – but we’ve never called her that. She’s always been Aunt Sissy. I don’t think this is a good nickname for today’s standards – especially since in our house “sissy” is what we do on the toilet. I’m with Kayt (I think that’s who that is) on the nickname front. I don’t think Silvie and Sophie are good stand-alones. But I’d be charmed to meet a young Sylvia. The only other one I’veknown was my mid 30s OB/GYN. It seemed out of place on an adult around my age, but I think it works for a modern tot.
I adore Sylvia. It’s my second choice for a girl’s name, after Daphne. I think that Sylvia will come back with a vengence because of its natural meaning and its similarity in sound to Olivia and Sophia. Parents that want that modern but classic sound might hear it and use it without giving much thought to the meaning or background.
I think Sylvie is a cute nickname, but I wouldn’t really want to see it come back on its own. I can’t stand Sylvie and Sophie as given names. They’re nicknames!
Re: “I think Sylvie is a cute nickname, but I wouldn
I think you’ve got it right, light, peppy Sylivie will lead for this name. Maybe because my mother had several friends names Sylvia (My mother was born in 1940), I still feel Sylvia’s age. I like her history but Sylvia feels positively ponderous to me. Sylvie is what appeals, both visually and audibly. I’m also very partial to the masculine French version: Sylvain. I’m a huge animation buff and easily one of the best I’ve seen is ” Les Triplettes de Belleville ” by Sylvain Chomet (he’s working on a new one now and I can’t wait to see it, Belleville blew me away).
I toy with Sylvie for a girl myself. the other half will not entertain Sylvain on a boy. 🙂 but Sylvie is sweet. Light, fresh, almost peppy and yes, happy feeling. She’s great. I think she feels suitably Frech and meshes well with my surname I just worry, would a little Sylvie of mine feels shortchanged next to opulent sister Josephine (wo really does get Josephine more often than any nickname)? Anyone have a thought or two on this? Also, How aweome would twins Remus & Sylvie be? 😉
I’m not so sure I’ll like the remake of “the Women”. Sultry Rosalind Russell’s character being played by Annette Bening? I just can’t wrap my head around it. Annette Bening’s alright but she’s no Rosalind Russell! Sylvia Plath was a modern woman stuck in an era she didn’t belong in. I’ve always felt sorry for her and have always thrilled to see inside her head with her poetry. She made me like the name back when my friends were naming dolls things like Jill and Karen. Mine were Sylvia, Charlote and Helen. 😀
Either way, I’d love to see Sylvie/Syliva come back.. as long as she doesn’t pull a Sophia/Sophie. Sophie is a standalone name as is Sylvie! that drive me bananas.
And an aside for Verity… how are you holding up, dear? The heat must really be getting to you. Hope all’s well!