Sylvie

Sylvie meaning

Sylvie is an international girl's name of French origin (from Latin).

French form of Silvia, from Latin silva, "wood, forest"

Also used to mean: of the forest, from the woods

Sylvie is the French form of Silvia, a Latin name built on silva, which Lewis & Short define as a wood, forest or woodland, and in poetry a grove or the trees themselves. In Roman legend Rhea Silvia was the mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. The French singer Sylvie Vartan is a well-known bearer. Its meaning, "of the forest", is the same idea as the Indian names Vanya and Aranya, so it can sit naturally in an Indian family. It is said seel-VEE in French, or SIL-vee in English.

Source: Lewis & Short, A Latin Dictionary (1879), via Perseus, s.v. silva · entry silva · See the entry · checked 27 Oct 2026

References: Lewis & Short, silva (Perseus) · Wikipedia, Sylvia (given name) · Britannica, Romulus and Remus

Famous namesakes

• Sylvie Vartan, French singer

Popularity abroad

• #282 United States, girls 2025 (up 74 from 356 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #186 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Sylvie · Silvie

Related names

Also meaning nature

More names of Latin origin

Browse more like this