The Silva surname
In the 2000 U.S. Census, 126,164 people carried this name — #214 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 2,140 people counted.
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In Switzerland’s population statistics
5,896 people named Silva live in Switzerland.
They live in 25 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 841 people named Silva.
Most of them — 431 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 69 départements, most often Paris.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 112 people named Silva live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Brussels-Capital.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Poland’s population register
54 people named Silva have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 170 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 9 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In print
Silva in American newspapers,
1899–1936.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 118,347 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Silva,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Miguel da Silva 1480–1556 · bishop -
Pedro da Silva 1647–1717 · courier -
João da Motta e Silva 1685–1747 · politician -
Fernando de Sousa e Silva 1712–1786 · Catholic priest -
María Teresa de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba 1762–1802 · salonnière
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 169 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Silva.
- Sikorski 4,214 · U.S. census
- Silber 2,208 · U.S. census
- Silbermann 149 · U.S. census
- Silberstein 911 · U.S. census
- Siles 519 · U.S. census
- Silo 132 · U.S. census
- Silvagni 149 · U.S. census
- Silvagnoli 110 · U.S. census
- Silvain 111 · U.S. census
- Silvan 291 · U.S. census
- Silvani 271 · U.S. census
- Silvano 317 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Silva is.
A volume says what happened to it.
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