Sylvia
Pronounced S IH1 L V IY0 AH0 (ARPABET)
- 3 syllables
- Peaked 1937
- 145 years in use
- 1 spelling
How popular is Sylvia?
Sylvia is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 266,106 children — the 173rd most common girls' name on record.
Its use has been broadly flat across the past two decades. Its best single year was 1937, when 4,404 children were given it.
Silvia is counted with it here, since the two are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Sylvia and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Silvia
Characteristics
- 3 syllables
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- S IH1 L V IY0 AH0
- Stress pattern:
- 100
- Syllables:
- 3
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Sylvia
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Sylvia
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Sylvia?
- Sylvia ranks 173rd among girls' names in US records, with 266,106 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 8,442.
- Is Sylvia a unisex name?
- No. Sylvia is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Sylvia most popular?
- 1937, when 4,404 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Sylvia spelled?
- Silvia. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.