Biblical2 syllables#71 in the U.S.
Meaning: of the forest, via Silvanus; or asked for, if the Aramaic reading is right.
Silas
| Origin | New Testament Greek Σιλᾶς (Silas), Latinised as Silvanus |
|---|---|
| Meaning | One derivation makes it a short form of Latin Silvanus, from silva (wood, forest); the other reads it as a Greek spelling of the Aramaic form of Hebrew Sha'ul, Saul, meaning “asked for” |
| Pronunciation | SY-lus (two syllables) |
| Popularity | #71 in the U.S. (SSA 2025) |
| Variants | Silvanus, Sylas, Silvano (Italian), Silvain (French) |
| Nicknames | Si, rhyming with sigh |
| In the Bible | Paul's travelling companion through Acts 15–18, jailed with him at Philippi |
History & meaning
Silas is a New Testament name with two credible etymologies and no way to choose between them. Paul's letters call the same man Silvanus, which points to Latin silva, wood or forest, and to Silvanus the Roman god of woodland. But Silas may instead be Greek writing down an Aramaic name, the local form of Hebrew Sha'ul, Saul, which means asked for or prayed for. Careful sources give both and commit to neither, and this page will do the same.
The man himself joins Paul after the council at Jerusalem and stays with him through Acts, including the night in the prison at Philippi that ends with an earthquake. Puritan families took the name to America, where it settled into rural use. George Eliot then attached it to the miser-weaver of Silas Marner in 1861, a novel so firmly lodged in the school syllabus that it kept the name faintly musty for a century. It came back in the 2000s alongside Ezra (#20) and Asher (#28).
Why parents choose it
Sound, mainly. Silas is soft the whole way through, with no hard consonant in it, which sets it apart from most biblical boys' names. The trailing s is also fashionable right now in a way it was not a generation ago, shared with Miles (#44), Brooks (#64) and Atlas (#75). The other draw is the register: Silas is scriptural without being one of the four or five Old Testament names every nursery already has three of.
Middle names for Silas
The one rule is not to follow it with another s: Silas Samuel slurs, Silas Sebastian worse. Better: Silas John, Silas Wade, Silas Bennett, Silas Nathaniel. The middle names guide explains why the repeated consonant fails.
Famous Silases
Silas Deane was the first diplomat the Continental Congress sent abroad, arriving in France in 1776. Silas Weir Mitchell, the nineteenth-century American neurologist, coined the term phantom limb. In fiction the name belongs to Eliot's weaver.
Consider instead
Micah (#90) is the same soft biblical texture in two syllables. Ezra is shorter and sharper. Boaz takes the idea somewhere much rarer and stays well outside the top 100. There are more in the S names.