How popular is the baby name Sylvester in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Sylvester.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Sylvester


Posts that Mention the Name Sylvester

Baby names associated with green: Olive, Silvano, Thao

pine trees, green

Looking for baby names that are associated with green — including baby names that mean “green”?

If so, you’ve come to the right place! I’ve collected dozens of options for you in this post.

Before we get to the names, though, let’s take a quick look at what the color green represents…

Symbolism of green

What does the color green signify?

In Western cultures in particular, green can be symbolic of:

  • Nature
  • Growth
  • Wealth
  • Luck
  • Envy
  • Freshness
  • Quality

The overriding association with nature is due to the abundance of green plant life on Earth. Plants contain a green pigment called chlorophyll that allows them to absorb energy from light.

The color can also be associated with safety and permission, thanks to green traffic lights (which signal when it’s safe to proceed).

Top baby names associated with green

Determining the top names in a category isn’t difficult when you’re working with an easily definable category, like PH names. When it comes to names that have a connection to the color green, however, we need to account for the fact that certain names have a stronger connection than others.

With that in mind, here are the top baby names that have an obvious association with the color green:

  1. Ivy
  2. Jade
  3. Olive
  4. Forest
  5. Emerald

Now here are the same five names again, but this time around I’ve added some details (including definitions, rankings, and popularity graphs).

Ivy

The word ivy refers to any of several species of climbing or ground-creeping evergreen plants in the genus Hedera. By extension, it also refers to the deep green color of ivy’s foliage.

Ivy is currently the 49th most popular girl name in the U.S.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Ivy in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Ivy

Jade

The word jade refers to two similar-looking minerals, nephrite and jadeite, that are commonly used as gemstones. By extension, it also refers to the green color of these minerals.

Their common name can be traced back to the 16th-century Spanish term piedra de ijada, meaning “loin stone” (because the stone was thought to help cure loin and kidney ailments).

Jade is currently the 91st most popular girl name in the nation.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Jade in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Jade

Olive

The word olive refers to the fruit of the olive tree (Olea europaea). By extension, it also refers to the dark yellowish-green color of unripened olive fruit. (Ripened olives are black.)

Olive is currently the 182nd most popular girl name in the U.S.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Olive in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Olive

Forest

The word forest refers to a dense growth of trees and underbrush that covers a large area of land. It’s based on the Medieval Latin word foresta (or forestis).

The more popular spelling of the name, Forrest, represents transferred usage of the English surname. The surname Forrest originally referred to a person who lived near or worked in a royal forest (that is, a forest owned by the sovereign and used as a hunting ground).

Forest is currently the 715th most popular boy name in the nation. (Forrest ranks 414th.)

Graph of the usage of the baby name Forest in the U.S. since 1880.
Usage of the baby name Forest

Emerald

The word emerald refers to a vivid green variety of the mineral beryl. By extension, the word also refers to the green color of these crystals.

The name of the stone can be traced back to the ancient Greek word smaragdos, which referred to any green gemstone (including emerald, beryl, malachite, and jasper).

Emerald is currently the 913th most popular girl name in the U.S.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Emerald in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Emerald

More names associated with green

All the names below are associated with the color green. The names range from common to uncommon, and their associations range from strong to slight.

Those that have been popular enough to appear in the U.S. baby name data are linked to their corresponding popularity graphs.

olives, green
  • Alder trees have green foliage. The word alder is derived from the Old English word for the tree, alor.
  • Aran is a Thai masculine name meaning “forest.”
  • Aranya is a Hindi gender-neutral name based on the Sanskrit word aranya, meaning “forest.”
  • Ash trees have green foliage. The word ash is derived from the Old English word for the tree, æsc.
  • Aspen trees have green foliage. The word aspen is derived from the Old English word for the tree, æspe.
  • Aurora is part of both “aurora borealis” and “aurora australis” — the names of the polar lights, which are predominantly green. The polar lights are caused by solar wind (that is, charged particles emitted by sun) striking the Earth’s magnetic field. The word aurora means “dawn” in Latin.
  • Balsam fir trees have dark green foliage. The name of the tree can be traced back to the Hebrew word basam, meaning “spice, perfume.”
  • Beryl is a mineral that can be green. The name of the stone ultimately comes from the ancient Greek word beryllos. (Green beryl is a paler green than emerald.)
  • Birch trees have green foliage. The word birch is derived from the Old English word for the tree, beorc.
    • Björk is the Icelandic word for “birch.”
  • Blerim is an Albanian masculine name based on the word blerim, meaning “greenness, verdure.”
  • Blerta is an Albanian feminine name based on the word blertë, meaning “green.”
  • Burkni is an Icelandic masculine name meaning “fern.”
  • Cactus plants are typically green. The name of the plant is derived from ancient Greek word kaktos.
  • Cedar trees have dark green foliage. The name of the tree ultimately comes from the ancient Greek word kedros.
  • Celadon is a pale grayish-green color. The name of the shade was inspired by a character named Céladon — a shepherd who wore pale green clothing — in the popular 17th-century French novel L’Astrée by Honoré d’Urfé.
  • Chloe (or Chloë) is derived from the ancient Greek word khloe, which referred to “the first green shoot of plants in spring.”
  • Chloris, based on the ancient Greek word khloros, meaning “pale green” or “greenish-yellow,” was the name of several figures in Greek mythology.
    • Chlora is a variant of Chloris.
  • Clover leaves are green. The word clover is derived from the Old English word for the plant, claefre.
  • Codrin is a Romanian masculine name based on the word codru, meaning “forest.”
  • Cyan is the bluish-green color halfway between green and blue on the visible spectrum. The name of the shade comes from the ancient Greek word kyanos, meaning “dark blue.”
  • Cypress trees have dark green foliage. The word cypress is derived from the ancient Greek word for the tree, kyparissos. (In Greek mythology, a grieving boy named Kyparissos was transformed into a cypress tree.)
  • Douglas is part of Douglas Fir — the name of a species of tree with dark green foliage. The tree was named in honor of Scottish botanist David Douglas.
  • Emeraude is the French word for “emerald.”
  • Esmeralda is the Spanish word for “emerald.”
  • Evergreen trees retain their green foliage year-round.
  • Fern fronds are green. The word fern is derived from the Old English word for the plant, fearn.
ferns, green
  • Giada is the Italian word for “jade.”
  • Green, of course, refers to the color green. :)
  • Greenlee comes from a habitational surname that can be traced back to the Old English words grene, meaning “green,” and leah, meaning “clearing, meadow.”
  • Gretna is part of Gretna Green — the name of the Scottish village that became famous in the late 18th century as an elopement destination for young English couples. The village name originally referred to the “green by Gretna,” with the word Gretna meaning “gravelly hill” (from the Old English elements greot, “grit,” and hoh, “heel” — denoting a hill shaped like the heel of a foot).
  • Haljand is an Estonian masculine name based on the word haljas, meaning “green, verdant.”
  • Holly trees have green foliage. The word holly is derived from the Old English word for the tree, holen.
  • Hunter is a dark yellowish-green color. It was the shade of green worn by hunters during the 19th century.
  • Ivik is a Greenlandic masculine name meaning “(blade of) grass.”
  • Jandi is a Korean feminine name meaning “grass.”
  • Kelly is a bright green color. The Irish surname Kelly can be traced back to the Old Irish personal name Cellach.
  • Khidr (also spelled Khadir) is an Arabic masculine name meaning “green.”
  • Lakhdar is an Arabic masculine name based on al-akhdar, meaning “the green.”
  • Leaf green is the bright yellowish-green color typical of plant leaves (due to the presence of chlorophyll).
  • Laurel trees have green foliage. The word laurel is derived from the Latin word for the tree, laurus.
  • Levert comes from the French surname LeVert, which is based on the Old French word vert, meaning “green.”
  • Lin (second tone) is a Chinese name that can mean “valuable jade,” depending upon the character being used to write the name.
  • Linden trees have green foliage. The word linden is derived from the Old English word for the tree, lind.
  • Malachite (pronounced MAL-uh-kiet) is a mineral that is green. The name of the mineral ultimately derives from the ancient Greek word malache, meaning “mallow” — a reference to the resemblance between the color of malachite and the leaves of the mallow plant.
  • Matsu is a Japanese feminine name that can mean “pine tree,” depending upon the kanji being used to write the name.
    • Matsuko is a Japanese name that can include the element Matsu.
    • Matsue is another Japanese name that can include the element Matsu.
  • Midori is a Japanese gender-neutral name that can mean “green, verdure,” depending upon the kanji being used to write the name.
  • Mint leaves are green. Aromatic mint plants are part of the genus Mentha, the name of which derives from the ancient Greek word minthe.
    • Minttu is the Finnish word for “mint.”
    • Mynta is the Swedish word for “mint.”
    • Mynte is the Danish word for “mint.”
  • Moss are small, flowerless plants that grow in dense green mats. The Old English word for “moss” was mos.
  • Myrtle trees have green foliage. The word myrtle is derived from the ancient Greek word for the tree, myrtos.
malachite, green
Malachite
  • Oak trees have green foliage. The word oak is derived from the Old English word for the tree, ac.
  • Oihan is a Basque masculine name meaning “forest.”
    • Oihana is the feminine form of Oihan.
  • Olivine is a mineral that is usually yellowish-green. The name of the mineral can be traced back to the Latin word oliva, meaning “olive.”
  • Oren is a Hebrew masculine name meaning “pine tree.”
    • Orna is the feminine form of Oren.
  • Qorsuk is a Greenlandic masculine name meaning “green, yellowish-green.”
  • Pallav is a Hindi masculine name based on the Sanskrit word pallava, meaning “shoot, sprout, young leaf.”
    • Pallavi is the feminine form of Pallav.
  • Panna is a Hindi feminine name that can mean “emerald” or “leaf.”
  • Peridot, a variety of the mineral olivine, is yellowish-green.
  • Phyllis, the ancient Greek word for “foliage” (based on phyllon, meaning “leaf”) was the name of several figures in Greek mythology.
  • Pilutaq is a Greenlandic gender-neutral name meaning “leaf.”
  • Pine needles are green. The word pine is derived from the Latin word for the tree, pinus.
  • Sage leaves are grayish-green. The name of the sage plant (genus Salvia) can be traced back (via Old French sauge) to the Latin word salvus, meaning “healthy.”
  • Sirkka is a Finnish feminine name that can be derived from the word heinäsirkka, meaning “grasshopper” (many of which are green), or from the word sirkkalehti, meaning “cotyledon” (the embryonic leaf of seed-bearing plants).
  • Silvanus, based on the Latin word silva, meaning “wood, forest,” was the name of the Roman god of forests.
    • Silvano (masculine) and Silvana (feminine) are the modern Italian forms of Silvanus.
    • Sylvain (masculine) and Sylvaine (feminine) are the modern French forms of Silvanus.
  • Silvester is derived from the Latin word silvestris, meaning “forested” or “of the forest.”
  • Silvius was a Roman masculine name based on the Latin word silva, meaning “wood, forest.”
    • Silvio (masculine) and Silvia (feminine) are the modern Italian and Spanish forms of Silvius.
      • Sylvia is a variant of Silvia.
  • Talar (also spelled Dalar) is an Armenian feminine name based on the word talar or dalar, meaning “green, verdant.”
  • Teal is a dark bluish-green color. The shade was named after the Eurasain teal (Anas crecca), a type of duck with a teal-colored stripe on its head.
  • Thao is a Vietnamese gender-neutral name meaning “herbs, grass.”
  • Turquoise (pronounced TUR-koyz) is a mineral that is sometimes bluish-green. The name of the stone can be traced back to the Old French term pierre tourques, meaning “Turkish stone.” Though it was mined in Persia, the stone was introduced to Europe in the 13th century by Turkish traders.
  • Vipin is a Hindi masculine name based on the Sanskrit word vipina, meaning “forest.”
  • Viridian is a bluish-green color. The name of the pigment comes from the Latin word viridis, meaning “green.”
  • Willow trees have green foliage. The word willow is derived from the Old English word for the tree, welig.
  • Zumra is a Turkish feminine name based on the word zümrüt, meaning “emerald.”

Can you think of any other names that have a connection to the color green?

Sources:

Images by Tony Mucci from Unsplash, forumkrakow from Pixabay, minka2507 from Pixabay, and adapted from Malachite by Didier Descouens under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Pop culture baby name game results, 2021

Baby name game results, 2021

Which of the names in the 2021 pop culture baby name game saw higher usage last year?

The following names increased in usage from 2020 to 2021. They’re ordered by relative size of increase.

NameActionIncrease (%)’20 to ’21 usage
Lilibet*re-emerged200%, at least? to 12 baby girls
Caelebincreased200%5 to 15 baby boys
Rayaincreased130%274 to 631 baby girls
Icedebuted125%, at least? to 9 baby boys
Wandaincreased112%17 to 36 baby girls
Jovitaincreased60%5 to 8 baby girls
Suniincreased60%5 to 8 baby girls
Kananincreased59%102 to 162 baby boys
Mykaylaincreased59%17 to 27 baby girls
Letoincreased50%6 to 9 baby boys
Sterlingincreased49%122 to 182 baby girls
Sylvie*increased46%351 to 514 baby girls
Daphne*increased46%749 to 1,097 baby girls
Divinity*increased33%43 to 57 baby girls
Sylvesterincreased31%52 to 68 baby boys
Augustincreased29%2,423 to 3,133 baby boys
Renniere-emerged25%, at least? to 5 baby boys
Enderincreased22%103 to 126 baby boys
Ridleyincreased16%79 to 92 baby boys
Jupiterincreased8%119 to 129 baby girls
Phineasincreased7%121 to 129 baby boys
Khaiincreased5%21 to 22 baby girls
Simon*increased1%1,404 to 1,423 baby boys

*Suggestions made by elbowin, k8eshore, and KM

Chapel and La’akea were near-misses — both made gains, but for the wrong genders.

The following names did not increase in usage from 2020 to 2021. These names saw equal usage, less usage, or weren’t in the data at all.

Amanda, Ariarne, Atreides, Chani, Cruella, Dolph, Hidilyn, Ikaris, Janja, Javicia, Jeh, Kenna, Kizzmekia, Lalisa, Makkari, Mare, Mauz, Mecole, Nakano, Nevin, Ozuna, Rauw, Robinette, Sersi, Shacarri, Shein, Swavy, Tessica, Tianwen, Warrior

And here are the late bloomers — names that were part of the 2020 game, but didn’t rise/debut until 2021.

  • Win re-emerged with 14 baby boys.
  • Kaori increased by 106%
  • Gervonta debuted with 8 baby boys
  • Theodosia increased by 75%
  • Anaia increased by 71%
  • Wednesday increased by 47%
  • Hamilton increased by 30%
  • Lenin increased by 19%
  • Liberty increased by 8%
  • Zaya increased by 7%

What are your thoughts on these results? Which name surprised you the most?

[Disclaimer: Some of the names above were already moving in the direction indicated. Others were influenced by more than a single pop culture person/event. In all cases, I leave it up to you to judge the degree/nature of pop culture influence.]

Pop culture baby name game, 2021

Happy birthday, Elvis!

Tomorrow would have been Elvis Presley’s 86th birthday. (Happy birthday, Elvis!)

You guys know what that means…time for the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game!

Think back to the pop culture of 2021 — movies, music, TV shows, online shows, social media, video games, sports, news, cultural events, politics, products, brands, etc.

Which of these things had an influence on U.S. baby names, do you think?

More specifically, which baby names will see higher usage (or appear for the very first time) in the 2021 U.S. baby name data thanks to 2021 pop culture?

Here are some initial ideas…

Plus…

  • Names from the movie Eternals (like Sersi, Ikaris, Makkari)
  • Names from the movie Dune (like Chani, Atreides, Leto)
  • Turkish names from any of the Turkish dramas being aired in Spanish on Univision/Telemundo
  • Names from any new sci-fi/fantasy series (like Shadow and Bone, The Nevers, The Wheel of Time)

Some of the names mentioned in the 2020 game might be see increases in 2021 as well.

What other names should we add to the list? Let me know by leaving a comment!

I’ll post the game results after the SSA releases the 2021 baby name data (in May of 2022).

Name quotes #99: Silbestre, Iris, Kin

Silbestre Esquivel’s inscription (via Petrified Forest NP’s IG)

About the historical “Silbestre Esquivel” inscription inside Petrified Forest National Park:

Who was Silbestre Esquivel? In 1811, he inscribed his name in what would become Petrified Forest National Park. Was he passing through? Was he a lonely cowboy or shepherd? Even the history of discovery of the inscription is mysterious. Two different articles in a magazine and a newspaper in 1943 and 1945 claim to discover the name. The earlier one found it by directions from a business woman in the area—wouldn’t she be the one to have discovered it? A professional photographer, Michael Bend, did find out that the man was part of a party traveling from Santa Fe to Utah lead by José Rafaél Sarracino to trade with the Ute people. Such fascinating secrets!

(The name Silbestre — like the related name Sylvester — can be traced back to the Latin word silva, meaning “forest.”)

From Blake Lively’s WIRED Autocomplete Interview [vid] with Anna Kendrick:

Anna: How did Blake Lively…get her name?
Blake: My grandmother’s brother was named Blake.
A: Oh!
B: But he was murdered. So thanks for asking, Google.
A: She’s so dark.

(Blake Lively was also featured in Name Quotes #51.)

From a Louder interview with John Rzeznik about the Goo Goo Dolls’ hit song “Iris”:

By the time Rzeznik had ironed out some of the “ugly chord sequences”, he had a swooning future classic on his hands. Only the name was required. “I’m horrible at naming songs,” he says, “so it’s the last thing I do. I was looking through a magazine called LA Weekly and saw that a great singer-songwriter called Iris DeMent was playing in town. I was, like: ‘Wow! What a beautiful name.’

(The song doesn’t actually include the name Iris in the lyrics, and yet the usage of the baby name Iris does seem to rise at a faster rate in 1998 and 1999, so…did the song influence the name? Wdyt?)

From the book Indiana’s 200: The People Who Shaped the Hoosier State (2016) by James E. St. Clair:

Amid much publicity in the early 1950s, [Herb Shriner and his wife] had given their children names that reflected his Hoosier heritage: They had a daughter named Indiana (known as “Indy”) and a son, Kin, named in honor of Abe Martin creator Frank McKinney “Kin” Hubbard. Kin Shriner became a soap opera actor; his twin brother, Wil (named for Will Rogers, but with one l), became a comedian, television, director, and talk show host with a laid-back style reminiscent of his father.

From an essay about names in The Arizona Republic by Karina Bland:

When Jim and I were choosing a name for our son, we turned to the dictionary.

Sawyer has three half-siblings — Sonnet, Sky and Savannah. Each name is an actual word, not a name like Sam or Sarah. We wanted to do the same for this baby.

Our list is still there in my Random House College Dictionary with the red cover — 22 possibilities neatly printed in purple pencil on the back of a sheet of paper shaped like a cluster of grapes: Street, South, Story, Satchel, Sage, Saracen.

We had narrowed it down to a handful — Storm, Sawyer, Story, Scout, Scarlet — when we saw him on an ultrasound for the first time. A boy. And he was instantly Sawyer, one fist raised above his head, all boyhood and adventure.

From an essay on baby names in The Guardian by Ed Cumming:

The one truly radical act for a British parent is to pluck a name from further down the class ladder. Yet it might not be the worst idea for the downwardly mobile upper-middle classes, whose jobs in accounting and law are about to be replaced by Elon’s robots. They continue to worry that Liam or Wayne wouldn’t fit in at Eton, little realising that will be the least of their concerns. Cressida and Monty will have a much harder time fitting in at the robot repair shop.