While on vacation this past week, I saw the most recent movie in the Rocky saga, "Rocky Balboa." That and my recent love of Sylvie and Sylvia got me thinking about Sylvester. I would never never, however advocate Sylvia and Sylvester in a sibset.
It is quite a lot for most people - sounding maybe a little pretentious. Plus the cat and Stallone associations are probably off-putting to most people.
But consider this, the cat association is already becoming old and probably won‘t be familiar to any one currently under 15 (they watched the Rugrats, and Blues Clues), and I simply don’t think Sylvester Stallone can lay claim to the name because he is not huge like Madonna, and unlike Madonna, the name was actually moderately popular in recent history:
http://www.behindthename.com/top/search.php?extra=p&terms=Sylvester&submit=Go
But if you put those associations aside, and just say the name to your self over and over, it sounds quite slick.
And it has quite an etymology, being a Saint name used in medieval times. I feared it was an old surname, but according to this site at least, it's not.
Another plus for the name is that so many parents seem to be obsessed with y, sticking it in names where it doesn’t belong (Ayden), but Sylvester is a name that already comes with a y. Although I guess it was originally spelt Silvester. However, my spell check underlines Silvester and ignore Sylvester, telling me the latter spelling has become more commonly accepted.
Personally, despite IMO the name’s many strengths, I don't think most modern parents have the guts to use Sylvester, which makes the name even more appealing to me.
So many name enthusiasts complain that there aren’t many name options for boys, and I feel, for the intrepid, Sylvester fills the void.
Thoughts on Sylvester?
This message was edited 8/19/2008, 3:54 AM