Sylvia comes from the Latin silva and means "forest" or "of the woods"; Rhea Silvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus in Roman legend. Poet Sylvia Plath is the name's best-known American bearer. After decades of decline Sylvia is climbing again in the United States: it stood at number 497 in 2000, at 484 in 2015 and reached 300 in 2025, its best rank this century.