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
Shaw (name) topographic name for someone who lived by a copse or thicket. This name is derived from the Middle English "schage", "shage", "schawe", and "shawe", from the Old English "sceaga" meaning "dweller by the wood." The name can also be a habitational name derived from places named after these words. The English surname was established in Ireland during the 17th century. In Scotland and Ireland, the surname can also be an English form of several surnames derived from the Gaelic personal name "sitheach" meaning "wolf". Shaw is a romanization of with various Latinized spellings, including Shaw, Shao, Shiu, Siu, Chow, and