Sybil

SIHB-ul

Greek

"seer, prophetess"

Sybil Origin and Meaning

The name Sybil is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "seer, prophetess".

The image of the lovely Lady Sybil, tragic youngest daughter of the Crawley family on Downton Abbey is likely to go a long way towards reviving this almost forgotten name, off the list since 1966 and most popular in the 1920s and '30s.

Sybil is the most common spelling of a name which the Ancient Greeks used as the generic word for a prophetess--a woman who claimed to be able to interpret the wishes of the gods through their oracles. The term was later transferred into Christian theology where the sibyls were celebrated as having divine knowledge, which in turn brought the name into common use in the Middle ages.

Benjamin Disraeli wrote an influential political novel titled Sybil, which increased the popularity of the name in Victorian times, its use having suffered after the Protestant Reformation. More recently however, the name was severely undermined by the eponymous book and 1976 movie based on the character of Sybil-- played by Sally Field-- whose multiple personalities have now been confessed as fake.

There is also a Sybil in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and Sybill Trelawney is a witch and seer in the Harry Potter books, a Professor of Divination played on screen by Emma Thompson. Actress Cybill Shepherd, on the other hand, bears an invented name combining those of her Uncle Cy and Dad Bill.

Clunky-cute-and-cool, Sybil is a Nameberry gem, ranking in the Top 200 - and this popularity is beginning to reflect on the real world. Back in 2012, Sybil was given to less than 20 girls a year in the US; by 2013, it was chosen for nearly 70 -- and the most recent count, 136 girls were called Sybil, making it similar in popularity to Daenerys and Yesenia.

Sybil Rank in US Top 1000

# 834 in the US

Sybil Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 164 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Sybil

• 164 Nameberry 2025
• 564 Unique 2024
• 917 England 2024

20 Names Similar to Sybil

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Sybil.

• Wilhelmina
• Enid
• Dorothea
• Ingrid
• Alma
• Paloma
• Ramona
• Theodora
• Tabitha
• Petra
• Millicent
• Agatha
• Augusta
• Constance
• Odette
• Rosalind
• Maude
• Cornelia
• Rosamund
• Ines

Famous People Named Sybil

• Sybil Dorset pseudonym of Shirley Ardell Mason, American woman with multiple personality disorder ,, now confessed as fake ,, portrayed in the book and film "Sybil"
• Sybil Ludington American Revolutionary war heroine
• (Agnes) Sybil Thorndike English actress
• Sybil Danning (born Sybille Johanna Danninger) Austrian actress
• Sybil (Lynch) American pop singer
• Sybil Leek English witch, astrologer, occult author and self,proclaimed psychic
• Sybil Lorina Bauer American Olympic swimmer
• Sybil Grey British singer and actress
• Sybil Connolly Irish fashion designer
• Sybil Rachel Betty Cecile Sassoon Marchioness of Cholmondeley, British WWII military officer
• Sybil Seely American silent film actress
• Sybil wife of English courtier Pain fitzJohn
• Sybil Ann Melvin (b. 2016) daughter of American journalist and new anchor Craig Melvin and American sports anchor and reporter Lindsay Czarniak

The name Sybil in Pop Culture

• Sybil Vane character in Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray", a beautiful actress who dies a tragic death
• Sybil Crawley Branson character on TV's "Downton Abbey"
• Sybil Fawlty character on TV's "Fawlty Towers"
• Sybil Gerard character in "Sybil" (1845) by Benjamin Disraeli
• Sybil Hallow character on TV's "The Worst Witch"
• Sybil Trelawney character in the Harry Potter series
• Sybil Vimes wife of Sam Vimes in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
• Sybil villain/siren in The Vampire Diaries
• Sybil Mira Character from The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer

International Variations of the name Sybil

• Sybilla Swedish
• Sibéal Irish Gaelic
• Cybele French
• Sibylle French
• Sybille French
• Sibilia Slavic
• Sibylla Swedish