Silvester

• Swahili:/silvesteɾ/○(machine-generated) model-generated
• Spanish:/silbɛstɛr/○(machine-generated) model-generated
• Indonesian:/silvˈɛstər/○(machine-generated) model-generated

Readings marked model-generated were transcribed by a model; the others are quoted from the dictionary named.

Attested across 11 languages in the etymology graph.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Silvester, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Crispin
• Maximilian
• Cornelius
• Leopold
• Alfred

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Silvester is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Peru, Philippines

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Silvéster

• Croatian given name30 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia, India

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Slovenian

  Also written Silvestar, Силвестър, Sylvester, Šilvester, Силвестер

57 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Silvester is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from Lat Silvester ‘dweller in the forest’, also the name of popes and clerics; first attested Siluester capellanus Hy 2 DC (Lei).

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, Silvester, a deriv. of silva wood; cf. Selwyn i and SiLVERio). This was borne by three popes, including a contemporary of Constantine the Great. Vars.: Eng.: Selvester, Sylvester; Siviter (W Midlands), Seveter. Ger.: Ve(h)ster, Fe(h)ster (aphetic forms). Dims.: It.: Silvestrelli, Silvestrini, Vestrini, Vestrucci. Pol.: Symbestyrek. Aug.: It.: Silvestroni.

  as a name·The Oxford Names Companion - The definitive guide to Surnames, First Names, and Place Names of the British Isles

• In French, Du latin Silvester « forestier, des bois »; saint Silvestre, pape.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Variante de Sylvestre, « forestier ».

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In German, from Latin Silvester 'forest man'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Silvester Ib. 300IT33rd pope and saint (reigned 314-335)
• Sylvester IIb. 938FRnot in their usual namePope of the Catholic Church from 938 to 1003
• Silvester IIIb. 1000ITpope

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.

74 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 38 countries.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Silvester mean, and where does it come from?

from the male personal name Silvester, from Latin, a derivative of silva ‘wood’ Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

What are other forms of the name Silvester?

In the etymology graph, Sylvester, Silvestre and Sylwester are forms of the same name in other languages.

How do you pronounce Silvester?

It depends on the language: in Swahili /silvesteɾ/; in Spanish /silbɛstɛr/; in Indonesian /silvˈɛstər/. Transcriptions are machine-generated except where a dictionary is named.

Is Silvester a male or female name?

Silvester is a male name. National registers that list it by sex list it as male: Slovenia (SURS, 2025), United States (Census Bureau, 2020), Netherlands (Meertens NVB) and Brazil (IBGE).

Which countries have the most people named Silvester?

Mondonomo estimates about 8.2 thousand people named Silvester in Tanzania, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled silvester. After it come Nigeria, India, Slovenia and United States; the country table on this page ranks them.

Where is Silvester most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Silvester is densest in Slovenia — about 1 in 1.7 thousand people — even though Tanzania holds more of our records for it.

How common is the name Silvester?

In Slovenia, the national register counted 1,218 people named Silvester in 2025, about 1 in 1.7 thousand residents.