Boys' name · peaked in 1901
Sylvester name popularity since 1925
31,335 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Sylvester (1.1% girls, 98.9% boys). Half of them were born in 1952 or earlier, so the typical Sylvester is about 74 years old in 2026. Sylvester peaked in 1901 as the #139 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 31,335
- Named Sylvester, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1901
- #139 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,224 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 98.9% boys
- 337 girls · 30,998 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 7.18× its national share
Peak year is the year Sylvester made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Sylvester births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Sylvester peaked earlier, in 1901.
- Steepest fall: Between 1987 and 1992, Sylvester's share of baby boys fell by 46%, from 1 in 9,380 to 1 in 17,400.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Sylvester's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Sylvester.
Decade by decade
Babies named Sylvester in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 86 | 3,159 | – |
| 1930s | 94 | 5,139 | #224 |
| 1940s | 44 | 5,361 | #258 |
| 1950s | 59 | 6,171 | #283 |
| 1960s | 29 | 3,840 | #398 |
| 1970s | 19 | 2,293 | #546 |
| 1980s | 6 | 2,018 | #633 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,212 | #1,013 |
| 2000s | 0 | 735 | #1,914 |
| 2010s | 0 | 677 | #1,999 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 393 | #2,224 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
34.8% of babies named Sylvester from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Sylvester is most popular
The index compares Sylvester's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Sylvester.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 7.18× | 2,409 |
| Alabama | 3.66× | 1,793 |
| Arkansas | 3.50× | 996 |
| South Carolina | 2.95× | 1,143 |
| District of Columbia | 2.80× | 357 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Sylvester and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Sylvester (this page) | 30,998 | 1901 |
| Silvester | 1,014 | 1910 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Sylvester's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Sylvester.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Sylvester (1901).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data