Silas is a common given name and a lesser-known surname. It is a cognate of
Silvanus.
Etymology
The name 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".[1][2][3] The Latin name "Silvanus" may be derived from pre-Roman Italian languages.
^Cheyne, Thomas Kelly; Black, John Sutherland (1903). Encyclopædia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religious History, the Archæology, Geography, and Natural History of the Bible, Volume 4. Toronto: George N Morang & Company Ltd. pp. 4514–4521.
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
Silas is a common given name and a lesser-known surname. It is a cognate of
Silvanus.
Etymology
The name 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".[1][2][3] The Latin name "Silvanus" may be derived from pre-Roman Italian languages.
^Cheyne, Thomas Kelly; Black, John Sutherland (1903). Encyclopædia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religious History, the Archæology, Geography, and Natural History of the Bible, Volume 4. Toronto: George N Morang & Company Ltd. pp. 4514–4521.
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.