Looking for a subtle nature name that’s been worn by a saint and a queen, with mythological and literary associations, too? Today’s Name of the Day fulfills each and every requirement.
Thanks to Kim and Another for suggesting Sylvia.
If you love the great outdoors, but find Willow, Ocean or Skye too hippie chic for your tastes, Sylvia might appeal. The Latin silva means forest. Sylvester and Silas also trace their roots to these green and verdant Latin terms.
Two of the earliest bearers of the name are known best for the accomplishments of their sons. Rhea Silvia gave birth to Romulus and Remus, the mythological founders of Rome. In the sixth century, Saint Silvia was the mother of Pope Saint Gregory the Great.
Even farther back, legend has it that several kings of Alba Longa – a city that flourished from the 12th to 7th centuries BC – bore the name Silvio, so we can assume that both masculine and feminine versions were in use. Certainly by the Middle Ages, we find plenty of Silvios and Silvias in Italy.
In English, the name first attracted attention when William Shakespeare used it in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Between the 1590s and the 19th century, the favored spelling shifted. The French adjective sylvain described all things woodsy. Sylvaine and Sylvie became feminine forms en français. The English adopted the “y” spelling, but kept the “a” ending, and voilà – Sylvia.
Sylvia peaked at #62 in the US in 1939 and 1940. Today she’s at #532 and falling fast. Silvia was also in use, but tumbled right out of the rankings after 2005.
Her fading status tracks with other popular girls names from the 1930s and 40s, like Dorothy, Carol, Joan, Doris, Barbara, Patricia, Shirley, Helen, Ruth, Nancy, Sharon, Judith and Joyce.
But Sylvia has an advantage many of those names lack – she ends in an a. Chart-toppers like Olivia, Sophia and Isabella all sound right with Sylvia. It makes her a candidate for revival, even if Joan and Shirley seem fusty.
Starting next week, we’ll be hearing a variant of this name on the big screen. George Cukor’s classic 1939 The Women – a sort of proto-Sex In the City – has gotten an update. In the original, Rosalind Russell played Sylvia, who helps her friend cope with a cheating husband. Starting next week, we can watch Meg Ryan as the heroine and Annette Bening as the friend – now called Sylvie.
We’d be remiss if we failed to mention poet and author Sylvia Plath. Her tragic 1963 suicide might’ve put some parents off the name, but it was already on the decline in favor of peppy monikers like Lisa and Tammy.
Today, Silvia ranks in the Top 50 in Spain. It’s a bright spot for the name’s use, as is Queen Silvia, the reigning Queen Consort of Sweden.
While we can’t call Sylvia fashionable, we wonder if Sylvie, with her French style, might actually make a comeback first. As an independent given name, Sylvie has never ranked in the US Top 1000, and all the variants of this name are out of favor in France, too. But given the name’s long history of use and literary cred, we imagine that it is only a matter of time before we hear this name – in some form – on playgrounds once more.
Sylvia Rose is one ofmy top names for a DD. I love that she would be a forest rose. And whilst it’s uncommon in the UK, the influx of European immigrants means I tend to associate the name with beautiful, young polish women rather than middle aged frumpy. NN would definitely be Sylvie. Although I definitely agree that Sylvie can stand on its own
There is also a short story “A White Heron” whose main character is named Sylvia. She’s an 11(?) year old girl and the protector of the forest. That story is considered literary cannon (often studied in lit classes) and what originally put me on to the name. The character, Sylvia, is sweet. kind, and still powerful.
I think I’m going to go with Sylvie though, because like Sarah, I’m a bit francophile in my name tastes (I prefer Sophie to Sophia as well).
Hello this is Silvia. I never knew that Silvia is such an old lady in American ears! I am 21 and I do have a friend Sylvia who is one month older than me.
I am Chinese hence my name Silvia was not picked by my parents to be written on the birth certificate. I picked it myself when I was in grade seven or eight and I always love it! I came to the states three years ago for college and have had so much complements for my name =] However, I do feel that Americans are a little bit surprised when I tell them to spell it as s-i-l-via instead of s-y-l-via. Frankly speaking, I didn’t know that there is a more common spelling with the y when I pick the name. I did feel a little bad in the past three years about the uncommon spelling but now I LOVE it, choosing “more ancient” over “more common”=]! I wouldn’t mind being imagined as a more sophisticated lady older than I am LOL.
Regarding nn, my boyfriend calls me Sil. Yes, it’s a little bit weird for Chinese couple to call each other by English name-.- But I do love it. And my boyfriend actually prohibits anyone else from calling me Sil LOL
My 15mo DD is Sylvie. I have yet to be asked if it is a NN for Sylvia. Instead, most people look at me like I have three heads and ask me to repeat it. I always just say it’s like Sylvia with an -e. That always clears things right up. I chose it because a) I tend to be a francophile when it comes to names, and b) I find it effervescent and sweet, but not cloying.
That’s true, Expectant Mom. But I think this is one of those issues like Caitlin. Yes, it is the most authentic spelling – but use it, and you’ll hear “Oh, what an interesting spelling! I’ve never seen Kaitlyn with a C before!” Or try to convince someone that Aubrey and Avery are boys’ names when they’re both so popular for girls …
Sylvie stands nicely on her own because, as you say, she’s a perfectly legit choice in French. But just like there are plenty of girls christened Sophia and called Sophie, I think we’ll see girls named Sylvia and called Sylvie. It might not be technically correct, but that’s only a tiny part of the picture in how we use given names.
I know more than one Julia who answers to Julie …
Sylvie is not a nickname for Sylvia anymore than Olivier is not a nickname for Oliver; it is simply the French form of the name. Maybe in the U.S. people are not accustomed to hearing (totally legitimate) French forms of names.
wow i didn’t know that my name meand all these things now i know why i like nature !in the beginings i didn’t like my name cuz nobody knew or have it but now i like it cuz its special !
As I mentioned above, I DID name my daughter Sylvia. She’s now 13 months and feisty as can be. I’ve been toying with nicknames recently and I’ve come up with Syl, Sylvie, Liv, Via, Viv, Vivi, and Sivi…. None have seemed to stick yet. I guess I’ll see how she pronounces her own name as she learns to speak and maybe we’ll find something there. 🙂
(And as predicted, our own parents didn’t like the name, but have since gotten over it. I can’t imagine her as anything else and have gotten nothing but compliments from everyone else.)
And A.M. it’s funny you mention the name Jason above as normal… that is my husband’s name! LOL!
hello, this is Silvia from Spain. I like my name very much but i have just recently had a girl and i’ve named her like me… now i am thinking that it was a mistake because, although i like my name because now is not very used but it is not an strange name, now i see that two silvias in the same family is a little dificult. i don
I used to like Sylvia, very much, especially since it’s my mom’s middle name, but not anymore since I learned this was the middle name of Evil Elinor, a person from grade school (described her a bit too much on the NOTD post on Elinor).
Even though I don’t like now, I can see myself changing my mind and naming a daughter Sylvia, maybe Silvia?