Meaning of the nameSilva
- Female
- Sil-va
Silva appears in the 2022 Census as a first name, mostly among women; it is also the most common surname in Brazil, from Latin silva, 'forest'.
Meaning
The meaning of Silva is not known for certain. No reliable source documents it, so we give none; below are the origin of the spelling and the official figures.
- People (2022)
- 18,419
- Rank in Brazil
- #1,122
- Median age
- 48 years
- 2010 Census
- 15,981
- people
Silva in the 2022 Census
People with the first name Silva, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1970s (6,202 people).
16,988 women 1,431 men
Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.
Where the name Silva is most common
States with the highest share of people named Silva in the population, in the 2022 Census.
- Ceará 0.019%
- Maranhão 0.012%
- Rondônia 0.011%
- Minas Gerais 0.011%
- Pará 0.011%
All states
| State | People | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| São Paulo | 4,351 | 0.010% |
| Minas Gerais | 2,259 | 0.011% |
| Ceará | 1,626 | 0.019% |
| Rio de Janeiro | 1,507 | 0.009% |
| Bahia | 1,370 | 0.010% |
| Pará | 875 | 0.011% |
| Maranhão | 818 | 0.012% |
| Goiás | 732 | 0.010% |
| Paraná | 683 | 0.006% |
| Rio Grande do Sul | 626 | 0.006% |
| Pernambuco | 512 | 0.006% |
| Santa Catarina | 362 | 0.005% |
| Mato Grosso | 311 | 0.009% |
| Amazonas | 298 | 0.008% |
| Espírito Santo | 273 | 0.007% |
| Mato Grosso do Sul | 260 | 0.009% |
| Distrito Federal | 250 | 0.009% |
| Piauí | 209 | 0.006% |
| Sergipe | 184 | 0.008% |
| Rondônia | 177 | 0.011% |
| Rio Grande do Norte | 176 | 0.005% |
| Alagoas | 158 | 0.005% |
| Paraíba | 141 | 0.004% |
| Tocantins | 123 | 0.008% |
| Amapá | 57 | 0.008% |
| Acre | 47 | 0.006% |
| Roraima | 34 | 0.005% |
States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.
About the name Silva
According to Wiktionary, Silva is a surname in Portuguese, inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese and taken from place names, ultimately from Latin silva, 'forest'; the same entry identifies it as the most common surname in Brazil. The Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil includes Silva among the given names in use, with the spelling variant Sylva. In languages such as Slovene, Latvian and Lithuanian, Silva is a female name, which Behind the Name gives as a variant of Sylva. The origin of the use of Silva as a given name in Brazil is uncertain. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 18,419 people with Silva as a first name, with a median age of 48; proportionally, it is most common in Ceará.
Sources
- Wiktionary: Silva · en.wiktionary.org · origin
- Dicionário de Nomes em Uso no Brasil: Silva · dicionariodenomesdobrasil.com.br · usage
- Behind the Name: Silva · behindthename.com · origin
Questions about the name Silva
What does the name Silva mean?
The meaning of Silva is not known for certain: no reliable source documents it. So we give no meaning; the page shows the origin of the spelling and the official figures.
How many people are named Silva in Brazil?
IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 18,419 people with the first name Silva, which ranks it number 1,122 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1970s.
Is Silva a boy's or a girl's name?
Silva is a female name: in the 2022 Census, 16,988 women and 1,431 men had this name.
In which Brazilian state is Silva most common?
Proportionally, in Ceará: 0.019% of the state's population is named Silva (1,626 people), according to the 2022 Census.
Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Silva with a source. See the methodology.