that's the word you're looking for.
http://www.behindthename.com/top/search.php?extra=p&terms=silas&submit=Go
A lot of parents are thinking like you, hon :P
I like names that are completely contrary to current trends, and Cornelius is that. Everything that is in style now, Cornelius is not. Silas is (and Silas is fine, I like it quite well) short, biblical, slightly feminine, and has the super cool Si- next to it. Cornelius? none of those things. That is what I love about it. Cornelius stands alone in a class of the top 100. Old and cumbersome - yes!
That is what modern american naming is opposed to, above all else -
old names,
heavy names. ("character," says Emma.)
I don't like Neil. but it makes Cornelius usable, a lot moreso than Corny. I know a Cornelius who didn't use a nickname though, no one made fun of him and called him corny