Given name & surname
Sylvester
“man from the forest”
Sylvester is used as a given name and a surname. One Latin interpretation is “man from the forest.”
Original LatinSilvester
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Latin interpretation is “man from the forest.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
How it developed
In English use, Sylvester is used as a variant of Silvester.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Sylvester has a related form in Silvester. The history of Silvester gives this family its wider story. Silvester’s historical associations include various early saints, most notably the first pope to govern a Church free from persecution.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Sylvester through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 43,857
- 43,230 boys · 627 girls
- Most popular year
- 1920
- 819 babies
- 2025
- 64
- #2,224 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +5%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 64 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,224 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 4.6% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 807 in 1920. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (9). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 15,812 as a first name in 2020; 18,019 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.
Sylvester’s family of names
In English usage, Sylvester has a diminutive in Sly. In English usage, Sylvester shares a linguistic root with the Estonian form Silvester. In English usage, Sylvester has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Silvestre.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Sylvester has relatives in 17 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
Latinwhere Sylvester comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Silvestervariant · Latin, German
- Silvestrevariant · Portuguese, Spanish
- Slydiminutive · English
- Sylvestrevariant · French
- Silvestrovariant · Italian
- Silvestrvariant · Czech
- Sevestevariant
- Sevestervariant
Show 1 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 13
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Sylvester
- Sly StoneAmerican musician, singer, guitarist, and record producer (1943–2025)
- Sylvester McCoyScottish actor (born 1943)
- Sylvester GrahamAmerican Presbyterian minister and dietary reformer1794–1851
- Sylvester GrothGerman actor and tenorborn 1958
- Sylvester StadlerGerman general (1910–1995)
- SylvesterAmerican singer-songwriter1947–1988
- Sylvester LevaySerbian-born Hungarian recording artist and composerborn 1945
- Sylvester GozzoliniFounder of the Sylvestrines1177–1267
- Junkyard DogAmerican professional wrestler (1952-1998)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Sylvester, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Florian
“resembling a flower; one who is flourishing”
>99% boys
Chester
“from the camp of the soldiers”
>99% boys
Irving
“a triend of the sea”
>99% boys
Roscoe
“from the forest of deer”
99% boys · 1% girls
Irvin
“a triend of the sea”
>99% boys
Buster
“pockmark, boil”
>99% boys
Mervin
“a friend of the sea”
>99% boys
Frazier
“of the forest men”
>99% boys