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Out of all the people I know named this (I have known 4), they all spell it Sylvia (the youngest is nine and the oldest is 50ish, so it's great on all ages!). I think the spelling Silvia is way prettier. When it's spelled Sylvia it makes me want to say "SLY-via"! I think a Silvia would get there named spelled more correctly then a Sylvia anyway. I know a Sylvia my age, and she says that everyone automatically spells it with an i.

I like it better with the y.

I think Sylvia is an overlooked treasure; it is a very elegant, feminine and distinguished name, and has no reasons to be so underused. But to me that is a plus, anyway.
I find the Y spelling more appealing, but both are lovely. I don't know if "Silvia" would be often misspelled in the USA, but I can tell that this is the most common one in Portuguese-speaking countries, although "Sylvia" is also used.

I prefer the spelling Sylvia.
In my (French-speaking) community, the name is mostly Sylvie.
Also some guys named Sylvan.

I love Sylvia/ Silvia; it's just such a gorgeous and elegant name!

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I also waffle back and forth between the two spellings; I like the look of Sylvia, but I like that Silvia is the Shakespearean spelling. I do think that Sylvia is the predominant English spelling, but that Silvia is more international (certainly for languages with Latin roots). That said, I think either spelling would travel fairly well. For example, though it's spelled Silvia in Spanish, my Spanish-speaking family once mentioned they prefer the Sylvia spelling as it looks more exotic to them.

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Sorry, I guess that's not overly helpful, except to say that I don't think one choice is clearly better than the other, at least from a practical perspective.

I love Sylvia and Silvia equally. I don't prefer one over the other, but Silvia is a bit more universal.

1) i like sylvia alright, i think the nickname sylvie is adorable.
2) i prefer sylvia to silvia. there's something more exotic about the y
3) i would say that the y is definitely the more dominant spelling
4) i don't think she'd always have her name misspelled, people would catch on pretty quickly if it's just a matter of i instead of y
5) i have no idea about sylvia in other languages

My mum's name is Sylvia and she's German. We pronounce it the wrong way, though, SÜL-vee-ah (can't describe the German Ü sound, sorry). I don't know why, her parents started it and she's pronounced it like that ever since. It is actually pronounced SIL-vee-ah here, too.

I was thinking about Sylvia just last night! I love it! The best thing about it is that it's not trendy, but people can still say it correctly. I think Silvia would work in America, but I think I prefer the Sylvia spelling. Sylvie is a really sweet nickname.

I love Silvia!

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I love Silvia! It is one of my top names now. I dislike hanging y's for the most part anyway, so this speeling automatically gets points from me. I also like that it looks like Silver.

Definitely Silvia

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Silvia is on my list. It's one of my top names right now.

I like both spellings, but the Silvia one seems to suit a Latin context best. I do think a Silvia in an English-speaking country would have her name misspelled.
Interestingly, as a teenager I had a French penfriend, from Marseilles. Her name was Sylvia (that y spelling) - not the French Sylvie.
I love the Sylvie version, but think Sylvia is ripe for a comeback. It's lovely.

This message was edited 11/23/2008, 11:45 PM

Sylvia is on my list. It's one of my top names right now.
I like the look of Sylvia rather then Silvia.