boy's name
Sylas
SY-lus
- Origin Latin
- Gender Boy
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 9,905
the United States
#440
2025 births
Sylas is a boy's name, a respelling of Silas. The older name is a Greek shortening of Silvanus, from silva, a forest — and it may separately render the Aramaic behind the biblical Saul, which would make it two names in one.
- Sylas is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 732 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,529 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1975.
Sylas over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1970s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1970s | 11 |
| 1980s | 33 |
| 1990s | 143 |
| 2000s | 1,016 |
| 2010s | 4,040 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,723 |
What Sylas means
Sylas means of the forest, through Silvanus and the Latin silva. A second line reads Silas as a Greek rendering of the Aramaic form of Saul, meaning asked for, in which case the forest reading is coincidental.
Where Sylas comes from
Sylas respells Silas, which the New Testament gives as a companion of Paul on his second missionary journey — imprisoned with him at Philippi and freed by an earthquake. Greek Silas is generally read as a short form of Silvanus, from the Latin silva, a wood, and Paul's letters call the same man Silvanus. But scholars have also argued that Silas transliterates the Aramaic Sheila, corresponding to the Hebrew Saul, asked for — which would mean the Latin forest name attached to an Aramaic one by resemblance. Both are current. The Y spelling is modern and appears in our records from 1975.
Sylas in use
Sylas charts in only four of the seven countries we track and reached its highest recorded use in 2025.
How popular is Sylas?
In 2025, Sylas was given to 732 babies in the United States, ranking #440 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Sylas is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Sylas
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Sylas also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Sylas over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Sylas
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Sylas in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Sylus
Sibling names for Sylas
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Sylas — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Sylas
What does the name Sylas mean?
Of the forest, through Silvanus and the Latin silva. A second reading takes Silas as a Greek rendering of the Aramaic form of Saul.
What is the difference between Sylas and Silas?
Only the spelling. Silas is the biblical form; Sylas is a modern respelling.
Who was Silas in the Bible?
A companion of Paul, imprisoned with him at Philippi and freed by an earthquake. Paul's letters call the same man Silvanus.
How popular is the name Sylas?
In 2025, Sylas was given to 732 babies in the United States, ranking #440 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Sylas a girl's or a boy's name?
Sylas is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
When was Sylas most popular?
Sylas peaked in 2025, when 732 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Sylas?
Sylas is usually shortened to Sy.
Is Sylas a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Sylas currently ranks #440 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.