Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective silvestris meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun silva meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with i. In Classical Latin, y represented a separate sound distinct from i, not a native Latin sound but one used in transcriptions of foreign words. After the Classical period y was pronounced as i. Spellings with Sylv- in place of Silv- date from after the Classical period. Given name Sylvester of Marsico (c. 1100–1162), Count of Marsico in the Kingdom of Sicily Silvester Ashioya (born 1948), Kenyan hockey player Silvester Bolam (1905–1953), British newspaper editor Silvester Brito (1937–2018), American poet and academic Sylvester Croom (born 1954), American football coach and former player Silvester Diggles (1817–1880), Australian musician and ornithologist Silvester Fernandes (born 1936), Kenyan hockey player Silvester Gardiner (1708–1786), American physician etc. Silvester Goraseb (born 1974), Namibian footballer Sylvester Graham (1794–1851), Presbyterian minister, father of graham crackers Silvester Harding (1745–1809), English artist and publisher Silvester Horne (1865–1914), Congregational minister Sylvester James Jr. (1947–1988), also known as Sylvester, a singer and disco performer Silvester Johnson (1813–1889), Kentucky merchant and politician Silvester Knipfer (1939–2010), German sports shooter Sylvester Levay (born 1954), Hungarian musician Sylvester McCoy (born 1943), Scottish actor Silvester Mirabal (1864–1939), American farmer and statesman Sylvester Mittee (born 1956), Saint Lucian/British boxer of the 1970s and '80s Silvester Sabolčki (1979–2003), Croatian footballer Silvester Sedborough (1515/16–1551), member of parliament Silvester Šereš (1918–2000), Hungarian-Yugoslav footballer Silvester Shkalla (born 1995), Albanian footballer Sylvester Stallone (born 1946), American actor Sylvester Stewart (born 1943), or Sly Stone, musician and record producer, best known as the frontman for Sly and the Family Stone Silvester Takač (born 1940), Serbian-Yugoslavian footballer and football manager Sylvester Terkay (born 1970), American professional wrestler John Silvester Varley (born 1956), English banker Silvester van der Water (born 1996), Dutch footballer Clergy Antipope Sylvester IV, a claimant from 1105 to 1111 Pope Sylvester I (died 335), Saint Sylvester Pope Sylvester II (c. 946–1003) Pope Sylvester III (died 1062 or 1063) Silvester de Everdon (died 1254), bishop and Lord Chancellor Sylvester Gozzolini (1177–1267), saint and founder of the Sylvestrines religious order Silvester Jenks (1656–1714), English priest and theologian Silvester Petra Sancta (1590–1647), Italian priest and herald Patriarch Silvester of Alexandria (fl. 1569–1590) Sylvester of Assisi (died 1240), companion of Saint Francis of Assisi Sylvester of Antioch, 18th century Greek bishop Sylvester of Kiev (c. 1055–1123), clergyman