# Sylvester

Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective silvestris meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun silva meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with i. In Classical Latin, y represented a separate sound distinct from i, not a native Latin sound but one used in transcriptions of foreign words. After the Classical period y was pronounced as i. Spellings with Sylv- in place of Silv- date from after the Classical period.

## Given name

* Sylvester of Marsico (c. 1100–1162), Count of Marsico in the Kingdom of Sicily
* Silvester Ashioya (born 1948), Kenyan hockey player
* Silvester Bolam (1905–1953), British newspaper editor
* Silvester Brito (1937–2018), American poet and academic
* Sylvester Croom (born 1954), American football coach and former player
* Silvester Diggles (1817–1880), Australian musician and ornithologist
* Sylvester A. Dineen (1898–1950), American schoolteacher and politician
* Silvester Fernandes (born 1936), Kenyan hockey player
* Silvester Gardiner (1708–1786), American physician etc.
* Silvester Goraseb (born 1974), Namibian footballer
* Sylvester Graham (1794–1851), Presbyterian minister, father of graham crackers
* Silvester Harding (1745–1809), English artist and publisher
* Silvester Horne (1865–1914), Congregational minister
* Sylvester James Jr. (1947–1988), also known as Sylvester, a singer and disco performer
* Silvester Johnson (1813–1889), Kentucky merchant and politician
* Silvester Knipfer (1939–2010), German sports shooter
* Sylvester Levay (born 1954), Hungarian musician
* Sylvester McCoy (born 1943), Scottish actor
* Silvester Mirabal (1864–1939), American farmer and statesman
* Sylvester Mittee (born 1956), Saint Lucian/British boxer of the 1970s and '80s
* Silvester Sabolčki (1979–2003), Croatian footballer
* Silvester Sedborough (1515/16–1551), member of parliament
* Silvester Šereš (1918–2000), Hungarian-Yugoslav footballer
* Silvester Shkalla (born 1995), Albanian footballer
* Sylvester Stallone (born 1946), American actor
* Sylvester Stewart (born 1943), or Sly Stone, musician and record producer, best known as the frontman for Sly and the Family Stone
* Silvester Takač (born 1940), Serbian-Yugoslavian footballer and football manager
* Sylvester Terkay (born 1970), American professional wrestler
* Sylvester Turner (1954–2025), American attorney and politician, Mayor of Houston, Texas
* John Silvester Varley (born 1956), English banker
* Silvester van der Water (born 1996), Dutch footballer

### Clergy

* Antipope Sylvester IV, a claimant from 1105 to 1111
* Pope Sylvester I (died 335), Saint Sylvester
* Pope Sylvester II (c. 946–1003)
* Pope Sylvester III (died 1062 or 1063)
* Silvester de Everdon (died 1254), bishop and Lord Chancellor
* Sylvester Gozzolini (1177–1267), saint and founder of the Sylvestrines religious order
* Silvester Jenks (1656–1714), English priest and theologian
* Silvester Petra Sancta (1590–1647), Italian priest and herald
* Patriarch Silvester of Alexandria (fl. 1569–1590)
* Sylvester of Assisi (died 1240), companion of Saint Francis of Assisi
* Sylvester of Antioch, 18th century Greek bishop
* Sylvester of Kiev (c. 1055–1123), clergyman and writer in Kievan Rus
* Silvester of Troina (died 1185), Basilian monk
* Silvester of Valdiseve (1278–1348), monk
* Sylvester of Worcester, early 13th century Bishop of Worcester
* Sylvester (priest), 15th-century priest of the Cathedral of the Annunciation and close advisor to Ivan IV

## Surname

* Silvester baronets
* Andy Silvester (born 1947), British bassist and multi-instrumentalist
* Attila Silvester (1944–2010), Greek choreographer
* Charles Sylvester (1774–1828), English chemist and inventor
* Dean Sylvester (born 1972), American hockey player
* David Silvester (born 1958), Scottish numerical analyst
* David Sylvester (medievalist), Canadian medieval historian
* Debbie Silvester (born 20th century), British-Australian chemist and professor
* Flor Silvester (1923–2008), Dutch graphic designer etc.
* Fred Silvester (born 1933), former British politician
* Frederick C. Silvester (1901–1966), British organist and composer
* Hannah Sylvester (1903–1973), American blues singer
* Harold Sylvester (born 1949), American film and television actor
* James Joseph Sylvester (1814–1897), English mathematician
* Jarrod Silvester (born 1965), Australian rules footballer
* Jay Silvester (born 1937), American athlete
* John Silvester (disambiguation)
* Joshua Sylvester (1563–1618), English poet
* Marc Sylvester, American middle-distance runner
* Michael Silvester (born 1998), Irish rugby union player
* Michael Sylvester (politician), American politician and labor organizer
* Michael Sylvester (tenor) (born 1951), American opera-singer
* Mike Sylvester (born 1951), an Italian-American basketball player
* Mist (born 1992 as Rhys Thomas Sylvester), British rapper
* Nigel Sylvester (born 1987), American professional BMX athlete
* Paul J. Silvester (born 1963), American white collar criminal
* Peter Silvester (disambiguation)
* Philip Carteret Silvester (1777–1828), 2nd Baronet
* Rick Sylvester (born 1942), American stuntman
* Robin Sylvester (1950–2022), English musician
* Sarah Morgan-Silvester (born 1959), Canadian university chancellor
* Sherry Sylvester, American political worker and journalist
* Stephen Silvester (born 1951), English cricketer
* Victor Silvester (1900–1978), English musician and bandleader
* Walter Sylvester (1867–1944), English inventor
* William Sylvester (1922–1995), American TV and film actor
* William Henry Thomas Sylvester (1831–1920), English army officer and surgeon

## Mononym

* Sylvester (singer) (1947–1988), full name Sylvester James Jr., a singer and disco performer

## Fictional characters

* Bear Sylvester, a character on the BBC soap opera Doctors
* Sylvester, a character in the 1990 American action comedy movie Kindergarten Cop
* Sylvester the Cat, a Looney Tunes character
* Sylvester Junior, a son of Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr.
* Sylvester, a donkey in the children's book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
* Sylvester, a main character in the series Trapped in the Closet
* Sylvester Rax, an antagonist in the 1985 animated show M.A.S.K. (TV series)
* Sylvester McMonkey McBean, a character in the Dr. Seuss book The Sneetches and Other Stories
* Sue Sylvester, a main character on the Fox sitcom Glee