Meaning not yet researched.
Sylvan: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 99 in 2025. Its best rank was #555 in 1912.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #555 in 1912; #1,674 in 2025. About 89% of babies named Sylvan in 2025 were boys.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#1,674 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1912, at #555.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Sylvan: US boys and girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 99 boys in 2025. Peak: #555 in 1912 · most boys in one year: 103 (1918).
In 2025, 99 US boys were named Sylvan, making it the 1,674th most common boys’ name of the year, up 227 places from #1,901 in 2024. That is 15 more than the 84 boys named Sylvan in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #555, reached in 1912. The most boys given the name in a single year was 103, in 1918. For comparison, it was #4,160 in 2015 and #1,496 in 1950.
In 2025, 12 US girls were named Sylvan, making it the 8,811th most common girls’ name of the year, down 1,253 places from #7,558 in 2024. That is 3 fewer than the 15 girls named Sylvan in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #7,558, reached in 2024. That year also had the most girls given the name: 15. For comparison, it was #12,884 in 2015 and unranked in 1950.
Social Security card records list Sylvan in 130 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1886 with 7 babies. In all, 3,813 US babies have been given the name, 3.4% of them girls and 97% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 660 babies named Sylvan.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 605 US boys were named Sylvan; the busiest of those years was 2025, with 99. In 2025 that was about 1 in 17,253 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Sylvan ranked highest in Pennsylvania in 2025, at #784 for boys there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Selvin (1,548 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Silvano, Silvan and Sylvain are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Rare spellings summarised here: Silvano (1,029), Silvan (102), Sylvain (92), Sylvin (51), Silvanus (44), Sylvene (15), Sylvian (12), Silvin (12), Selvyn (10), Selven (5), Silven (5).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Sylvan in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US boys. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five boys got the name, so 46 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 11 | #784 | #1,144 |
| Colorado | 5 | #944 | — |
| New York | 9 | #1,281 | — |
| California | 13 | #1,424 | — |
| Texas | 5 | #2,910 | — |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 12 | #8,811 | 99 | #1,674 |
| 2024 | 15 | #7,558 | 84 | #1,901 |
| 2023 | 11 | #9,533 | 75 | #2,029 |
| 2022 | 8 | #12,126 | 80 | #1,950 |
| 2021 | 9 | #11,065 | 64 | #2,219 |
| 2020 | 7 | #13,325 | 45 | #2,751 |
| 2019 | — | — | 48 | #2,690 |
| 2018 | 11 | #9,745 | 32 | #3,511 |
| 2017 | — | — | 35 | #3,305 |
| 2016 | — | — | 43 | #2,834 |
| 2015 | 8 | #12,884 | 25 | #4,160 |
| 2014 | — | — | 35 | #3,215 |
| 2013 | 5 | #18,969 | 29 | #3,650 |
| 2012 | — | — | 31 | #3,517 |
| 2011 | — | — | 25 | #4,091 |
| 2010 | — | — | 27 | #3,887 |
| 2009 | 8 | #13,552 | 20 | #4,901 |
| 2008 | — | — | 20 | #4,874 |
| 2007 | — | — | 18 | #5,184 |
| 2006 | 7 | #14,971 | 25 | #3,981 |
| 2005 | — | — | 18 | #4,798 |
| 2004 | 5 | #18,489 | 21 | #4,249 |
| 2003 | 6 | #15,545 | 20 | #4,259 |
| 2002 | 5 | #17,787 | 29 | #3,178 |
| 2001 | — | — | 22 | #3,827 |
| 2000 | 6 | #14,806 | 22 | #3,745 |
| 1999 | — | — | 11 | #5,992 |
| 1998 | — | — | 19 | #3,827 |
| 1997 | — | — | 11 | #5,603 |
| 1996 | — | — | 9 | #6,423 |
| 1995 | — | — | 12 | #5,083 |
| 1994 | — | — | 16 | #4,062 |
| 1993 | 6 | #13,238 | 20 | #3,356 |
| 1992 | — | — | 12 | #4,823 |
| 1991 | — | — | 7 | #7,177 |
| 1990 | — | — | 15 | #3,942 |
| 1989 | — | — | 11 | #4,772 |
| 1988 | — | — | 13 | #3,885 |
| 1987 | — | — | 15 | #3,319 |
| 1986 | — | — | 8 | #5,271 |
| 1985 | — | — | 14 | #3,370 |
| 1984 | — | — | 17 | #2,805 |
| 1983 | — | — | 13 | #3,392 |
| 1982 | — | — | 9 | #4,542 |
| 1981 | — | — | 13 | #3,387 |
| 1980 | — | — | 14 | #3,232 |
| 1979 | — | — | 9 | #4,361 |
| 1978 | — | — | 6 | #5,678 |
| 1977 | — | — | 9 | #4,122 |
| 1976 | — | — | 9 | #3,972 |
| 1975 | — | — | 18 | #2,440 |
| 1974 | — | — | 8 | #4,151 |
| 1973 | — | — | 11 | #3,191 |
| 1972 | — | — | 14 | #2,644 |
| 1971 | — | — | 16 | #2,455 |
| 1970 | — | — | 5 | #5,354 |
| 1969 | — | — | 6 | #4,355 |
| 1968 | — | — | 7 | #3,634 |
| 1966 | — | — | 17 | #1,958 |
| 1965 | — | — | 5 | #4,367 |
| 1964 | — | — | 18 | #1,964 |
| 1963 | — | — | 12 | #2,521 |
| 1962 | — | — | 10 | #2,828 |
| 1961 | — | — | 15 | #2,228 |
| 1960 | — | — | 18 | #1,966 |
| 1959 | — | — | 15 | #2,189 |
| 1958 | — | — | 14 | #2,250 |
| 1957 | — | — | 16 | #2,081 |
| 1956 | — | — | 16 | #2,084 |
| 1955 | — | — | 11 | #2,537 |
| 1954 | — | — | 15 | #2,106 |
| 1953 | — | — | 18 | #1,895 |
| 1952 | — | — | 29 | #1,429 |
| 1951 | — | — | 19 | #1,768 |
| 1950 | — | — | 25 | #1,496 |
| 1949 | — | — | 30 | #1,345 |
| 1948 | — | — | 25 | #1,483 |
| 1947 | — | — | 29 | #1,391 |
| 1946 | — | — | 21 | #1,598 |
| 1945 | — | — | 19 | #1,572 |
| 1944 | — | — | 31 | #1,208 |
| 1943 | — | — | 34 | #1,183 |
| 1942 | — | — | 29 | #1,312 |
| 1941 | — | — | 28 | #1,273 |
| 1940 | — | — | 32 | #1,206 |
| 1939 | — | — | 32 | #1,162 |
| 1938 | — | — | 33 | #1,146 |
| 1937 | — | — | 33 | #1,165 |
| 1936 | — | — | 36 | #1,091 |
| 1935 | — | — | 44 | #966 |
| 1934 | — | — | 39 | #1,056 |
| 1933 | — | — | 37 | #1,091 |
| 1932 | — | — | 50 | #922 |
| 1931 | — | — | 40 | #1,077 |
| 1930 | — | — | 47 | #1,004 |
| 1929 | — | — | 54 | #920 |
| 1928 | — | — | 51 | #961 |
| 1927 | — | — | 52 | #977 |
| 1926 | — | — | 71 | #775 |
| 1925 | — | — | 80 | #728 |
| 1924 | — | — | 73 | #792 |
| 1923 | — | — | 69 | #814 |
| 1922 | — | — | 66 | #849 |
| 1921 | — | — | 76 | #771 |
| 1920 | — | — | 68 | #814 |
| 1919 | — | — | 71 | #773 |
| 1918 | — | — | 103 | #606 |
| 1917 | — | — | 73 | #722 |
| 1916 | — | — | 84 | #640 |
| 1915 | — | — | 66 | #740 |
| 1914 | — | — | 52 | #733 |
| 1913 | — | — | 48 | #647 |
| 1912 | — | — | 53 | #555 |
| 1911 | — | — | 24 | #640 |
| 1910 | — | — | 11 | #1,035 |
| 1909 | — | — | 10 | #1,014 |
| 1908 | — | — | 13 | #775 |
| 1907 | — | — | 13 | #770 |
| 1906 | — | — | 13 | #702 |
| 1904 | — | — | 8 | #956 |
| 1903 | — | — | 8 | #902 |
| 1900 | — | — | 12 | #780 |
| 1899 | — | — | 11 | #656 |
| 1897 | — | — | 7 | #933 |
| 1896 | — | — | 6 | #1,093 |
| 1894 | — | — | 5 | #1,218 |
| 1892 | — | — | 5 | #1,239 |
| 1891 | — | — | 5 | #1,109 |
| 1888 | — | — | 5 | #1,167 |
| 1886 | — | — | 7 | #837 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).