Strong Girl Names: Choosing Between Sylver, Silver and Sylvie

Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed. We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight!

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THEY’VE (ALMOST) FOUND THE PERFECT NAME

Danielle writes:

My partner and I are expecting our first, and probably only, child this winter. We almost agree on a name: Silver, called Sylvie.

Silver is part of the story about how we met, so it’s the obvious choice. I like the way she’ll have the option to be Sylvie, which sounds very girlie, or Silver, which seems a little more neutral/mysterious.

We were all set until we tried to write her name down. Here’s where we need some advice:

• If we name her Silver, can we shorten it to Sylvie? These are the spellings that I prefer; my partner feels like it’s a mismatch.
• If it is a mismatch, which spelling do we change? Should she be Sylver, nickname Sylvie? Or Silver, nickname Silvie? Neither of those look right to me. My partner doesn’t have a strong opinion, except for objecting to Silver/Sylvie because it doesn’t make sense.
• Should we maybe just name her Sylvie? I feel like we’d be giving up part of the reason we chose the name and I worry that Sylvie is too cute, if that makes sense.

Our daughter’s last name will sound like Bennett with a K.

Please read on for my response and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.

MAKING SENSE OF SPELLING

Abby replies:

Congratulations on your baby!

I hear your concerns. Silver seems like it should shorten to Sil- something, right?

Except … English is notoriously illogical. Not phonetic. Downright weird. Exhausting, even!

It’s tempting to list all of the nicknames that don’t quite make sense, even though we take them for granted. Why is Margaret shortened to Meg? Helen to Nell? John to Jack?!

Of course, those are traditional nicknames. Parents today tend to think like your partner – William is Will, not Bill; let’s call our Elizabeth Ellie, not Birdie or Betty or Lil.

So absent our shadowy knowledge that Jack comes from John, we like to keep it simple.

It’s just that keeping it simple isn’t all that easy.

A few considerations:

• When you’re not sure about spelling, my general advice is to stick with the dominant choice. Not the “right” spelling. There’s rarely any such thing. But which is the most popular form at the moment?
• When debating formal name/nickname or just nickname, I tend to advocate for both. Now, you do NOT need a formal name. But if you like a formal name and a nickname? Then the versatility this gives you and your child is worth pursuing.

What does that mean?

It’s time to look at the numbers, because some combination of Silver/Sylvie feels like the right choice.

Let’s consider the two names separately.

HOW SHOULD THEY SPELL SILVER?

The US Social Security Administration publishes data on every name given to at least five children of a single gender in any given calendar year. It’s not searchable on their site, but it can be downloaded here.

So let’s look at the numbers:

• In 2023, 55 girls and 20 boys were named Silver.
• An additional seven girls were named Sylver.
• Spellings like Silvyr, Sillvyr, and Syllver didn’t register.

That’s pretty consistent. Silver has been used as a unisex name, in small numbers, since the late nineteenth century for boys and early twentieth century for girls. Sylver, on the other hand, debuted in the US data in 1983 and remains pretty uncommon.

To my mind, that’s an easy vote for Silver.

HOW SHOULD THEY SPELL HER NICKNAME?

So if Silver is the obvious choice for her given name, how should they shorten it?

This is actually slightly more complicated. Because there are LOTS of names derived from the Latin silva – forest – dating back to the ancient world.

Silver isn’t one of them. (The Latin word for silver is argentum.) Instead, silver comes from an uncertain source, possibly Germanic; maybe Slavic.

Regardless, American English tends to favor Syl- spellings.

From the current US Top 1000, we find:

• Sylvia and Sylvie appear in the US Top 500.
• Silas ranks in the boys’ Top 100. While it comes from Silvanus, the lack of a V sound makes it feel different.

Beyond the Top 1000:

• We recognize Sylvester, as in Stone and the Cat.
• There’s also Silvia, sometimes seen.
• Silvie is rare – given to 12 girls in 2023 – but not unknown.

On balance, though? Sylvie (and Sylvia) are the dominant spellings. Tell someone your name is Sylvie, and that’s the way they’ll spell it.

WILL SILVER CALLED SYLVIE WORK?

My guess is that Silver nicknamed Sylvie will be absolutely fine.

Here’s why:

• Sylvie is rising in use. It’s not common yet, but it’s familiar. And Sylvia had a good run, enough that we default to spelling the name Sylv.
• The opposite is true for Silver. It’s never really been spelled Sylver. Names like Saylor and Scarlett are more popular than their dictionary equivalents Sailor and Scarlet. But that’s not the case here … so it’s hard to argue for Sylver.

Instead, I’d suggest you work to accept the disconnect between the two spellings. If Amelia can become Millie and Lucas shortens to Luke, then surely Silver called Sylvie is within the range of reasonable, right?

Because I do think the least ideal option is probably Sylver. It’s truly different and would require lots of spelling and explanation, in a way that Silver and Sylvie do not. I think Silver called Silvie is an alternative, but one that would probably cause lots of spelling, repetition, and explanation – which it seems like you’d prefer to avoid.

Readers, what do you think? Should their daughter be Silver/Sylvie? Sylver/Sylvie? Silver … Silvie? Or just Sylvie?