# Sylvia

> English word · Proper noun · frequency rank #13,068

## Definitions
1. A female given name from Latin, a popular spelling variant of Silvia.
2. A minor city in Reno County, Kansas, United States.
3. Short for Princess Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome.
4. 87 Sylvia, a main belt asteroid; named for Rhea Silvia, mother of Romulus and Remus.

## Etymology
Feminine form of a Medieval form of Silvius, from Latin silva (“forest”). In myths, Rhea Silvia was the mother of famous twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. 6th-century saint Silvia was the mother of the pope Gregory the Great.

## Easily confused with
- **Syria** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sylvia-vs-syria)
- **Sylvie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sylvia-vs-sylvie)
- **silva** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silva-vs-sylvia)
- **Silvio** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silvio-vs-sylvia)
- **Silvia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silvia-vs-sylvia)
- **sylvan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sylvan-vs-sylvia)
- **salvia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/salvia-vs-sylvia)

## Common misspellings (9)
`slyvia`, `ssylvia`, `syliva`, `syllvia`, `sylvai`, `sylvvia`, `syvlia`, `syylvia`, `yslvia`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sylvia