Sylvan Boy
How popular is Sylvan?
#1,668 boy name in 2025
99 baby boys were named Sylvan in the US in 2025, making it the 1668th most popular boy name. Another 12 girls got the name (#8,360 for girls).
Sylvan popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #1,668 for boys (▲ 223 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 99 boys, 12 girls |
| 10-year trend | Rising fast (+296% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #4,078 in 2015, #2,727 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1918 (103 boys) |
| Highest rank | #552 in 1912 |
| First recorded | 1886 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 89% boys, 11% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 0.1% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Sylvan counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Sylvan family of names ranked #1,335 for boys in 2025 (#1,481 the year before), with 114 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Sylvan | 99 | 87% |
| Silvan | 10 | 9% |
| Sylvain | 5 | 4% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Sylvan is most popular
Babies named Sylvan per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Pennsylvania: 0.2 per 1,000 (52 boys)
- Oregon: 0.1 per 1,000 (5 boys)
- New York: 0.1 per 1,000 (26 boys)
- Wisconsin: 0.0 per 1,000 (5 boys)
- Colorado: 0.0 per 1,000 (5 boys)
Sylvan by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 12 | #758 |
| 1890s | 39 | #613 |
| 1900s | 77 | #674 |
| 1910s | 585 | #552 |
| 1920s | 660 | #723 |
| 1930s | 391 | #915 |
| 1940s | 278 | #1,170 |
| 1950s | 178 | #1,405 |
| 1960s | 108 | #1,890 |
| 1970s | 105 | #2,360 |
| 1980s | 127 | #2,705 |
| 1990s | 132 | #3,240 |
| 2000s | 215 | #3,091 |
| 2010s | 330 | #2,655 |
| 2020s | 447 | #1,668 |
Boy names about as popular as Sylvan
Questions
- Is Sylvan a boy or girl name?
- Sylvan is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 89% of babies named Sylvan were boys.
- How popular is the name Sylvan?
- 99 baby boys were named Sylvan in the US in 2025, making it the 1668th most popular boy name. Another 12 girls got the name (#8,360 for girls).
- When was Sylvan most popular?
- Sylvan peaked in 1918, when 103 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #552 in 1912.
- How many people are named Sylvan?
- 3,813 babies have been named Sylvan in the US since 1880. We estimate about 1,872 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 20.
- Where is Sylvan most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Sylvan was most common in Pennsylvania, at 0.2 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.