Silas
Meaning of Silas
Silas is traditionally understood as a Greek short form of the Latin name Silvanus, which derives from silva, the Latin word for wood or forest. Name dictionaries usually explain it as meaning of the woods or woodland. The name is pronounced SY-luhs; the first syllable rhymes with sky and the second is unstressed. It is a biblical name, but its root is Latin rather than Hebrew.
In the New Testament, Silas is a leader of the early church in Jerusalem and a companion of the apostle Paul. He is imprisoned with Paul at Philippi and later travels with him, and he is also called Silvanus. In literature, the title character of George Eliot's novel Silas Marner (1861) is a familiar bearer. Silas Weir Mitchell, the American physician and writer, is another notable namesake.
Silas has risen sharply in the United States. It entered the top 100 in 2020 and ranked 71st in 2025, when 4,639 boys were given the name. In 2000 it had ranked 602nd. The climb has been sustained over the past two decades, and its current rank is its highest.
Pronunciation
American English
- Pronunced as SY-luhs (/'saɪləs/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Silas
| Silas Weir Mitchell was an American physician and writer hailed as the father of medical neurology, known for discovering causalgia and erythromelalgia and pioneering the rest cure. |
| Silas Dwane House is an American novelist, music journalist, environmental activist, and columnist whose work highlights nature, working class and rural life, and he is a leading advocate for LGBTQ Appalachians and Southerners. |
| Silas Stillman Soule was an American abolitionist and teenage Underground Railroad conductor who, as a military officer, refused to join a massacre of Native Americans and later testified against his commander, making him a celebrated early whistleblower. |
| Silas Boxley Mason II was an American construction executive and racehorse owner who expanded his family firm Mason and Hanger into one of the largest contractors in the United States. |
| Silas Bent III was a United States Navy officer and early oceanographer who sailed the Atlantic and Pacific and resigned at the start of the Civil War due to Southern sympathies. |
