Explore the Family Name Sylvestre

The meaning of Sylvestre

French and West Indian (mainly Haiti): from the French personal name Sylvestre (see Sylvester). History: Nicolas Sylvestre dit Champagne from Pont-sur-Seine in Aube, France, married Barbe Neveu in Quebec City, QC, in 1667. Some characteristic forenames: French Andre, Armand, Normand, Pierre, Adelard, Aime, Alphonse, Carmelle, Donat, Gilles, Jean Claude, Marcel.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Sylvestre in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Sylvestre has seen a considerable surge in its popularity over the decade from 2000 to 2010. The rank of this surname leaped from 20599 in 2000 to 17111 in 2010, marking a significant increase of nearly 17 percent. Concurrently, the count of individuals bearing this surname also swelled from 1195 to 1658 during this period, indicating an impressive growth of approximately 39 percent. Moreover, the proportion of people with the Sylvestre surname per 100,000 grew by 27.27 percent.

20002010Change
Rank#20,599#17,11116.93%
Count1,1951,65838.74%
Proportion per 100k0.440.5627.27%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Sylvestre

When it comes to the ethnic identity associated with the surname Sylvestre, diverse changes were observed between 2000 and 2010 as shown by the Decennial U.S. Census data. While the percentage of those identified as white fell by 17.18 percent, there was a considerable increase of 37.45 percent in the percentage identifying as Black. The percentage of those claiming Hispanic ethnicity experienced a slight rise of 12.11 percent. Simultaneously, those declaring two or more races dropped significantly by 57.69 percent. Interestingly, people identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native started appearing in the 2010 census.

20002010Change
Black33.22%45.66%37.45%
White53.89%44.63%-17.18%
Hispanic6.03%6.76%12.11%
Two or More Races5.27%2.23%-57.69%
Asian/Pacific Islander0%0.42%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0.3%0%