Sylvanus as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Sylvanus

What is the meaning of the name Sylvanus ?

The baby name Sylvanus is a boy name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced sil-VAY-nəs.

Sylvanus is Latin, Roman in Origin.

Sylvanus is the English form of Latin Silvānus, first attested as the name of a Roman woodland god and as a Roman personal name. Its base is classical Latin silva, forest or wood, joined to the adjectival suffix -ānus, indicating belonging or relation. The literal sense is therefore of the woods or forest-dwelling; the y-spelling reflects later learned and English sylvan usage rather than the oldest Latin form.

In Roman religion, Silvanus protected woods, boundaries, fields, and flocks, which kept the name tied to rural cult and inscriptional use. A Christian Silvanus appears in the New Testament as a companion of Paul, giving the form a separate biblical channel; Silas is often treated as its shortened Greek form. Later European variants include Silvano, Silvain, Sylvain, Silvan, and Sylvan. In the United States, SSA records show very rare masculine use, strongest in the early twentieth century, with 1915 the highest year.