How Many People Are Named Sylvia?
An estimated 116,336 people in the United States have the first name Sylvia. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #471 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 58 years old, and Sylvia peaked in popularity in 1937 with 4,389 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Sylvia as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Sylvia paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Sylvia is overwhelmingly female, 908 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
116,336
About 1 in 2,946 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.6% confidence
Average Age
58
years old
Peak Year
1937
4,389 births
Total Registered
244,949
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Sylvia
Sylvia is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 244,949 total births registered, 99.6% were female.
Sylvia as a male name
Ranked #9,641 in 1992
5 male births in 1992
Peak: 1936 (24 births)
Sylvia as a female name
Ranked #361 in 2024
863 female births in 2024
Peak: 1937 (4,371 births)
Sylvia: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Sylvia span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 39,656 babies were registered. Sylvia has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Sylvia by Decade
How has Sylvia tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,109 | 0 | 1,109 | |
| 1890s | 3,025 | 0 | 3,025 | |
| 1900s | 5,570 | 11 | 5,559 | |
| 1910s | 25,729 | 74 | 25,655 | |
| 1920s | 26,965 | 124 | 26,841 | |
| 1930s | 33,174 | 164 | 33,010 | |
| 1940s | 37,421 | 134 | 37,287 | |
| 1950s | 39,656 | 116 | 39,540 | |
| 1960s | 28,748 | 129 | 28,619 | |
| 1970s | 12,684 | 68 | 12,616 | |
| 1980s | 9,401 | 78 | 9,323 | |
| 1990s | 6,400 | 10 | 6,390 | |
| 2000s | 5,440 | 0 | 5,440 | |
| 2010s | 6,042 | 0 | 6,042 | |
| 2020s | 3,585 | 0 | 3,585 | |
Sylvia by State
Birth registrations for Sylvia span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, New York, California. The lowest are in Alaska, Nevada, Wyoming. On average, about 4,544 Sylvias were registered per state.
Sylvia + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Sylvia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Sylvia
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Sylvia: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sylvia?
We estimate approximately 116,336 people named Sylvia are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 2,946 Americans share this first name.
Is Sylvia a common name?
Sylvia is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 244,949 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Sylvia most popular?
Sylvia reached peak popularity in 1937, when 4,389 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Sylvia is approximately 58 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Sylvia a female name?
Sylvia is predominantly female. 99.6% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Sylvia Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Sylvia Smith, Sylvia Johnson, Sylvia Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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