Sylvester comes from the Latin silvestris and means "of the forest" or "wooded". Three popes bore the name, and Saint Sylvester's feast on December 31 gives New Year's Eve its name in much of Europe; Americans know it from actor Sylvester Stallone and the Looney Tunes cat. Sylvester ranked 1398 in the United States in 2000 and has stayed around number 2000 to 2200 for the past decade, standing at 2224 in 2025 with 64 births.