Silas (name) The Latin name "Silvanus" may be derived from pre-Roman Italian languages. Silas (name) Silas is a common given name and a lesser-known surname. It is a cognate of Silvanus. Silas as a name today 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
Latin influence in English languages. Christian missionaries coming to Britain in the 6th century and 7th century brought with them Latin religious terms which entered the English language: "abbot", "altar", "apostle", "candle", "clerk", "mass", "minister", "monk", "nun", "pope", "priest", "school", "shrive". Some of these words are ultimately of Greek origin, as much of the technical language of Christianity developed from the Greek of the New Testament and the works of those Fathers of the Church who wrote in Greek. During this time, the Catholic Church had great influence on the development and expansion of the Old English language. Catholic monks mainly wrote or copied