How Many People Are Named Sylvia?
people named Sylvia are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 2,599 people in the US has this name
Based on 245,978 babies named Sylvia in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐ Uncommon
Peak Year
4,389 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Variant of SILVIA. This has been the most common English spelling since the 19th century.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Sylvia in English. Counting Sylvia and these spellings together, about 150,356 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Sylvia (99.7%) were girls.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Sylvia alive today is about 59 years old, and 61% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 47 and 75 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Sylvia first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1937, to 4,389 babies. In 2025, 1,017 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Sylvia never made the top 10 girls' names. Its best rank was #50, in 1937, and it was in the top 100 in 36 years between 1909 and 1952. In 2025 it ranked #300.
| Girls | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #300 |
| Best rank | #50 (1937) |
| Years in the top 100 | 36 (1909 to 1952) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #108 in the 1950s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Sylvia alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Sylvia were born in Texas than in any other state: about 21,525 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Sylvia was given 2.1 times as often in Arizona, 1.9 times in Texas and 1.8 times in New Mexico.
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