Sylvester
Pronounced S IH0 L V EH1 S T ER0 (ARPABET)
- 3 syllables
- Peaked 1920
- 145 years in use
- 2 spellings
How popular is Sylvester?
Sylvester is a boys' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 45,194 children — the 511th most common boys' name on record.
Its use has been broadly flat across the past two decades. Its best single year was 1920, when 833 children were given it.
Two other spellings are counted in that total — Silvester and Sylvestre — because they are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Sylvester and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Silvester
- Sylvestre
Characteristics
- Alliterative
- 3 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- S IH0 L V EH1 S T ER0
- Stress pattern:
- 010
- Syllables:
- 3
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Sylvester
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Sylvester
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Sylvester?
- Sylvester ranks 511th among boys' names in US records, with 45,194 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 693.
- Is Sylvester a unisex name?
- No. Sylvester is recorded almost entirely as a boys' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Sylvester most popular?
- 1920, when 833 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Sylvester spelled?
- Silvester, Sylvestre. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.