Given name & surname
Silva
“a woodland dweller”
Silva is a variant of Silvana. In Latin use, Silvana carries the interpretation “a woodland dweller.”
Original PortugueseSylva
Meaning & origin
What it means
Silva is a variant of Silvana. In Latin use, Silvana carries the interpretation “a woodland dweller.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Silva comes from Portuguese, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In Finnish usage, Silva developed from Silvia. In Italian usage, Silva is a feminine form of SILVO.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1892. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Silva through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 911
- 10 boys · 901 girls
- Most popular year
- 1969
- 19 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 6 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,598 as a first name in 2020; 162,724 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Silva’s family of names
In Czech usage, Silva is a diminutive of SILVIE. In Finnish usage, Silva developed from the Italian form Silvia. Silva has a related form in Silvana.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Silva has relatives in 6 languages. Lines run from its Portuguese roots to each of them.
Portuguesewhere Silva comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Silva
- Silva KaputikyanArmenian poet, writer and political activist (1919–2006)
- Silva BatutaBrazilian footballer (1940-2020)
- Silva Jose Reinaldo FernandesBrazilian association football playerborn 1976
- Silva GunbardhiAlbanian singerborn 1981
- Silva SemadeniSwiss politicianborn 1952
- Silva HakobyanArmenian singerborn 1988
- Silva ShahakianIraq's Beauty Queen 2006born 1985
- Silva ZurlevaBulgarian journalist1958–2020
- Silva GoldeLatvian politician1955–2013
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Silva, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Silveira
Silveira is a surname from Portuguese. It is used in English and Portuguese.
—
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Saraiva
Saraiva is a surname from Portuguese. It is used in English and Portuguese.
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Siqueira
Siqueira is a surname from Portuguese. It is used in English and Portuguese.
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