Sylvius

Sylvius is a Latinized form of the given name Silvius, used historically as a personal name and sometimes as a surname. The form appears in classical Latin literature and in early modern European scholarship.

Notable bearer: Franciscus Sylvius (1614–1672) was a Dutch physician and professor of medicine at Leiden. He is regarded as an influential figure in the development of clinical medicine and early pharmacology, and his name is associated with anatomical eponyms, notably the aqueduct of Sylvius, the cerebral aqueduct linking the third and fourth ventricles of the brain.

In myth and classical literature, Silvius (occasionally spelled Sylvius) is a legendary figure in the early Italian royal lineage. In various sources he is described as a descendant of Ascanius (Iulus) and an ancestor of the kings of Alba Longa.

In modern usage the name Sylvius is chiefly encountered in historical texts and biographical labels rather than as a common contemporary given name. It remains of interest in studies of the history of medicine, classical literature, and onomastics.