Recorded 1886–2025 · United States
Sylvan was most popular in 2025, when 111 American babies were given the name — ranking #3,297 that year. In 2025 it ranked #3,297, with 111 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 3,813 people named Sylvan.
Sylvan first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1886, which makes it about 139 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 130 of the 140 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 3,813 American births named Sylvan between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 1,851 are estimated to be alive today.
111 American babies were named Sylvan in 2025, ranking #3,297 that year.
Sylvan is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 91 births a year, against 32 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +189% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Sylvan is a boy’s name — 3.4% of the 3,813 Americans given it were girls and 96.6% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 11% girls and 89% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 1,851 Americans named Sylvan are alive today — 49% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 20 years old, and half are between 6 and 51. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Sylvan on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org