Silas (name)


Silas is a common given name and a lesser-known surname. It is a cognate of Silvanus.

Etymology

As a name today comes from the early Christian disciple Silas. He is consistently called "Silas" in Acts, but the Latin Silvanus, which means "of the forest," is always used by Paul and in the First Epistle of Peter; it is likely that "Silvanus" is the Romanized version of the original "Silas," or that "Silas" is the Greek nickname for "Silvanus." It has been suggested that Silas is the Greek version of the Aramaic "Seila," a version of the Hebrew "Saul". The Latin name "Silvanus" may be derived from pre-Roman Italian languages.

Variants