Silas (name)

Silas
Pronunciation	/ˈsaɪləs/
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/name	Latin
Region of origin	Italia
Other names
Related names	Sylvanus, Silvanus, Sylvain (French), Silvan (Dutch, German), Silvano (Italian)

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.

Variants

Danish – Silas
Dutch – Silas
English – Silas, Sylas, Si, Sy
French – Sylvain
Indonesian – Silas, Silvanus
German – Silas, Silvan
Italian – Silvano

People

Given name

Silas, a 1st-century leading figure among the early Christian community in Jerusalem
Silas (Portuguese footballer) (born 1976), real name Jorge Fernandes
Silas Tertius Rand Bill (1842–1890), Canadian politician
Silas Chou (born 1946), Hong Kong billionaire
Silas Farley, American ballet dancer, choreographer and educator
Silas Feitosa José De Souza (born 1985), Brazilian footballer
Silas Deane (1738–1789), colonial American politician and diplomat
Silas G. Harris (c. 1818–1851), American politician
Silas M. Holmes (1816–1905), American politician
Silas House (born 1971), American author
Silas Melson (born 1996), American basketball player
Silas Weir Mitchell (disambiguation), multiple people
Silas Katompa Mvumpa (born 1998), DR Congolese footballer
Silas Parsons (c. 1800–1860), justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama
Silas Wright Porter (1857–1937), American judge
Silas Scarboro (1827–1907), American politician and physician from Maryland
Silas Soule (1838–1865), American abolitionist
Silas A. Wade (1797–1869), American politician
Silas Williams (1888–1944), American college football player and coach
Silas J. Williams (died 1908), American politician from Ohio
Silas, pen name of cartoonist Winsor McCay when working on the comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend'

Surname

Mar Shila (Silas) (fl. 503–520), Catholicos Patriarch of the Church of the East
Hayden Silas Anhedönia (born 1998), better known as Ethel Cain, American singer
James Silas (born 1949), American basketball player
Paul Silas (1943–2022), American professional basketball player and coach
Paulo Silas (born 1965), Brazilian footballer
Stephen Silas (born 1973), American professional basketball coach (Paul Silas' son)
Xavier Silas (born 1988), American basketball player

Fictional characters

Silas Adams, henchman of Al Swearengen in the HBO series Deadwood
King Silas Benjamin, played by Ian McShane from the American television series Kings
Silas Blissett, in British TV soap Hollyoaks, played by Jeff Rawle
Silas Dengdamor from season two of the BBC America television series Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Silas Botwin, in the Showtime series Weeds
Sylas Briarwood, from the D&D livestream Critical Role
Silas Crow (Ermineskin), in the movie Dance Me Outside based on the book of short stories of the same title by W.P. Kinsella
Silas Greaves, bounty hunter and protagonist of Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
Silas Greenback, primary antagonist in the British TV series Danger Mouse
Silas Heap, in the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage
Silas Lynch, in 1915 film The Birth of a Nation, played by George Siegmann
The book and character Silas Marner
Silas Scratch, a fictional character and rumor from the children's novel Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Silas P. Silas, played by Method Man in the stoner comedy How High
Silas Stone, in DC comics
Silas Thatcher, a supporting antagonist in the 2012 video game Assassin's Creed III
Silas Vorez, antagonist in the video game The Quarry (video game)
Silas Wegg, from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Silas and the Winterbottoms, a novel by Stephen M. Giles
Silas, portrayed by Nicholas Hoult in the 2015 film Equals
Sylas, a playable character from the Fire Emblem game series
Silas, in American TV series The Walking Dead: World Beyond
Silas, in the Brazilian Netflix series 3%
Silas, in the novel The Da Vinci Code
Silas, in the novel The Graveyard Book
Silas, from the novels of Cecil Bødker, also adapted into a German TV series for ZDF in 1981
Silas, in American TV series The Vampire Diaries
Silas, (A.K.A. Colonel Leland Bishop), one of the antagonists from Transformers: Prime
The novel and character Uncle Silas
Silas Ramsbottom, character in Despicable Me 2

References

^ Fitzmyer, Joseph J. (1998). The Anchor Bible: The Acts of the Apostles. New York: Doubleday. p. 564. ISBN 0-385-49020-8.
^ 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.
^ Smith, Barry D. "1st Letter To The Thessalonians". www.mycrandall.ca. Retrieved 12 September 2014.

This page or section lists people that share the same given name.
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[1] Fitzmyer, Joseph J. (1998). The Anchor Bible: The Acts of the Apostles. New York: Doubleday. p. 564. ISBN 0-385-49020-8.

[2] 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.

[3] Smith, Barry D. "1st Letter To The Thessalonians". www.mycrandall.ca. Retrieved 12 September 2014.

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