Sylvia is a feminine given name of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

origin, also spelled

Silvia Silvia () is a female given name of Latin origin, with a male equivalent Silvio and English-language cognate Sylvia. The name originates from the Latin word for forest, ''Silva'', and its meaning is "spirit of the wood"; the mythological god of ...

. The French form is Sylvie. The name originates from the

word for forest ''Silva'' and its meaning is ''spirit of the wood ''. The mythological god of the forest was associated with the figure of Silvanus. William Shakespeare imported 'Silvia' to England. Silvia is the protagonist in the Shakespearean poem: Who is Silvia? what is she, That all our swains commend her? Today, Silvia is the more modern spelling of the name Sylvia. In

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representat ...

, Silvia is the goddess of the forest while Rea Silvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus. Silvia is also the name of one of the female

innamorati ''Gli Innamorati'' (, meaning "The Lovers") were stock characters within the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the Lovers in some regard. These dramatic and po ...

of the ''

commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...

'' and is a character of the ''

Aminta ''Aminta'' is a play written by Torquato Tasso in 1573, represented during a garden party at the court of Ferrara. Both the actors and the public were noble persons living at the Court, who could understand subtle allusions the poet made to that ...

'' written by

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' ( Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

. Sylvia (that spelling) was the 137th most popular girl's name in Britain in 1900.

People

Saint Silvia Silvia, or Sylvia, (c. 515 – c. 592) was the mother of Gregory the Great. She is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, which names her a patroness of pregnant women. Life Little biographical information abo ...

Queen Silvia of Sweden Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

* Sylvia (singer), American country singer born Sylvia Jane Kirby *

Sylvia Anderson Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In a ...

, British voice artist and film producer * Sylvia Rose Ashby, Australian market-researcher * Sylvia Ashton-Warner, New Zealand writer, poet and educator *

Sylvia Browne Sylvia Celeste Browne (''née'' Shoemaker; October 19, 1936 – November 20, 2013) was an American author who claimed to be a medium with psychic abilities. She appeared regularly on television and radio, including on ''The Montel William ...

, American psychic *

Silvia Cartwright Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright (née Poulter; born 7 November 1943) is a New Zealand jurist who served as the 18th Governor-General of New Zealand, from 2001 to 2006. She was the second woman to hold the office, after Dame Catherine Tizard. Ear ...

, Governor-General of New Zealand * Sylvia Chang, Taiwanese actress, producer and director *

Sylvia Chase Sylvia Belle Chase (February 23, 1938 – January 3, 2019) was an American broadcast journalist. She was a correspondent for ABC's '' 20/20'' from its inception until 1985, when she left to become a news anchor at KRON-TV in San Francisco; in 19 ...

(1938–2019), American broadcast journalist * Sylvia Constantinidis, Venezuelan-American pianist, conductor and composer *

Sylvia Crawley Sylvia Crawley (born September 27, 1972) is a former American professional women's basketball forward, licensed minister and motivational speaker. She was also the head women's basketball coach of the Boston College Eagles, from 2008 to 2012, and ...

, American basketball player * Sylvia Day, American romance writer * Sylvia Earle, American oceanographer and aquanaut * Sylvia Esterby, Canadian statistician * Sylvia Fernando (1904–1983), Sri Lankan educator and family planning advocate * Sylvia Gray (1909–1991), English businessperson * Sylwia Gruchała, Polish fencer * Sylvia Hanika, German tennis player * Sylvia Laughter (1950s-2022), American politician *

Sylvia Likens Sylvia Marie Likens (January 3, 1949 – October 26, 1965) was an American teenager who was tortured and murdered by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and several of their neighborhood friends. This abuse in ...

, American murder victim at age 16 * Sylvia Martínez Elizondo (1947–2020), Mexican politician * Sylvia McNair, American singer * Sylvia Molloy (writer) (1938–2022), Argentine academic and writer *

Silvia Monfort Silvia Monfort (born Simone Marguerite Favre-Bertin; 6 June 1923 – 30 March 1991) was a French actress and theatre director. She was the daughter of the sculptor Charles-Maurice Favre-Bertin and the wife of Pierre Gruneberg. She was named a ...

, French actress *

Sylvia Namutebi Sylvia Wilson Namutebi Alibhai is a Ugandan former model and beauty pageant titleholder. She reigned as Miss Uganda in 2011 and represented Uganda at Miss World later that year. Biography Namutebi was born to Paul Ssekuwanda in Wakiso, Uganda. She ...

, Uganda beauty pageant titleholder *

Sylvia Pankhurst Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was a campaigning English feminist and socialist. Committed to organising working-class women in London's East End, and unwilling in 1914 to enter into a wartime political truce with t ...

, British suffragette and Marxist *

Sylvia Pedlar Sylvia Pedlar (1900–1972) was an American fashion designer specialising in lingerie. She is the only designer to have won the Special Coty Award more than once, in 1951 and 1964. Born Sylvia Schlang in 1900 in New York, she was an art stud ...

, American lingerie designer *

Silvia Pinal Silvia Pinal Hidalgo (born 12 September 1931) is a Mexican actress. She began her career in the theater, venturing into cinema in 1949. Her film work and popularity in her native country led her to work in Europe (Spain and Italy). Pinal achiev ...

, Mexican actress *

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, '' Th ...

, American confessional poet *

Sylvia Poggioli Sylvia Poggioli ( or ; born 19 May 1946) (Bad link) is an American radio reporter for National Public Radio. She is the network's senior European correspondent. Early life Poggioli was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and raised in Cambridge, ...

, Radio news anchor *

Sylvia Ratonel Sylvia Anne Ratonel (born 14 June 1988) is a Singaporean singer and spokesmodel. She is most popularly known as the first female finalist in ''Singapore Idol'' history as well as being the runner-up of the third season. The show launched her ca ...

(born 1988), Singaporean singer and spokesmodel *

Sylvia Rivera Sylvia Rivera (July 2, 1951 – February 19, 2002) was an American gay liberation and transgender activism, transgender rights activist September 21, 1995. Accessed July 24, 2015. who was also a noted community worker in LGBT history in New Yor ...

, American transgender activist * Sylvia Robinson, American rhythm & blues singer, member of

Mickey & Sylvia Mickey & Sylvia was an American R&B duo composed of Mickey Baker and Sylvia Vanderpool, who later became Sylvia Robinson. They are best known for their number-one R&B single "Love Is Strange" in 1957. Baker and Vanterpool began recording toge ...

, and record label executive * Silvia Rodríguez Villamil (1939-2003), Uruguayan historian, feminist, writer, activist *

Sylvia Ruuska Sylvia Eliina Ruuska (July 4, 1942 – February 7, 2019) was an American former competition swimmer, Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in two events. At the age of 14, Ruuska won two medals at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbour ...

, American medley and freestyle swimmer * Sylvia Sanchez, (born 1971), Filipino actress * Sylvia Schofield (1916–2006), British writer and traveller * Sylvia Siddell (1941–2011), New Zealand artist * Sylvia Sidney, American actress *

Sylvia Sleigh Sylvia Sleigh (8 May 1916 – 24 October 2010) was a Welsh-born naturalised American realist painter who lived and worked in New York City. She is known for her role in the feminist art movement and especially for reversing traditional g ...

, Welsh-American painter * Sylvia Syms, English actress * Sylvia Thalberg, American screenwriter * Sylvia Tyson, Canadian musician, performer, singer-songwriter and broadcaster *

Sylvie Vartan Sylvie Vartan (; born Sylvie Georges Vartanian; hy, Սիլվի Ժորժ Վարդանյան. on 15 August 1944) is an Armenian-Bulgarian-French singer and actress. She is known as one of the most productive and tough-sounding yé-yé artists. ...

, Bulgarian-French singer and actress * Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, Peruvian-American explorer, mountaineer, social entrepreneur and technologist * Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer * Sylvia Wene, American ten-pin bowler * Sylvia Weve, Dutch illustrator

Fictional characters

* Sylvia, the character played by Anita Ekberg in the Italian film ''

La Dolce Vita ''La Dolce Vita'' (; Italian for "the sweet life" or "the good life"Kezich, 203) is a 1960 satirical comedy-drama film directed and co-written (with Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Brunello Rondi) by Federico Fellini. The film stars Marcello ...

'' (1960) * Sylvia, the character voiced by Kristen Johnston in the American animated film ''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

'' (2002) * Sylvia, character in the animated series ''

Wander Over Yonder ''Wander Over Yonder'' is an American animated television series that aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Created by Craig McCracken, it follows the adventures of the optimistic Wander, who rides across the galaxy to help the inhabitants of v ...

'' * Sylvia, the protagonist in the short story ''

A White Heron "A White Heron" is a short story by Sarah Orne Jewett. First published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company in 1886, it was soon collected as the title story in Jewett's anthology ''A White Heron and Other Stories''. It follows a young city girl nam ...

'' by Sarah Orne Jewett *

Sylvia Costas Sylvia Costas-Sipowicz is a fictional character from the American television drama '' NYPD Blue'', in which the character was married to Detective Andy Sipowicz, played by Dennis Franz. She was played by Sharon Lawrence.Vincent Terrace, ''Encycl ...

, Assistant District Attorney in the American television drama '' NYPD Blue'' * Sylvia Fine, the character played by Renee Taylor in the television series ''

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Flushing, Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three ch ...

'' * Sylvia Goodwin, the mother of

Roy Cropper Roy Cropper is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by David Neilson. He first appeared on-screen on 19 July 1995. Originally a secondary character, he was given a more prominent role in 1997, by ...

in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' * Sylvia Hollamby Character in the

prison drama Bad Girls (TV series) played by Helen Fraser * Sylvia Lyyneheym, a character in the light novel and anime of ''

The Asterisk War is a Japanese light novel series written by Yū Miyazaki, and illustrated by Okiura. Media Factory has published the series in seventeen volumes from September 25, 2012, to June 24, 2022, under their MF Bunko J imprint. Three spin-off volu ...

'' *

Sylvia Noble Over the course of its many years on television, the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' has not only seen changes in the actors to play the Doctor, but in the supporting cast as well. Companions The Doctor ...

, a character from British science fiction TV series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' * Sylvia Rosen, a neighbor who is friendly with Don and Megan Draper in ''Mad Men'' (season 6)

References

{{given name Swiss feminine given names Italian feminine given names English feminine given names it:Silvia

People

Fictional characters

See also

References