It's said in the Appendix to LOTR that many sindar who stayed in middle earth after the great battle went to the East, and because they were greated, they become kings or chiefs of the more rustic Silvan Elves.
The confusion with the elves comes because they are many divisions.
Originally there were the three kindreds, the Vanyar, the Noldor and the Teleri.
When Orome guided the elves to Aman, some didn't hear his call because they were away, or feared Orome, or simply didn't want to go, those are called the "avari".
All the elves that started the trip to Aman whether they got there or not are called "eldar". The avari were mostly teleri but some noldor as well.
Now, many eldar never reached Beleriand, a large group, headed by Lenwe, didn't dear to cross the Misty Mountains and they dwelt in the Anduin Valley, they are called the Nandor.
Of those who arrived to Beleriand, some went to Aman, the Vanyar and the Noldor, and part of the Teleri, conducted by Olwe, Elwe's brother.
But many stayed, some in the shores of Beleriand because Osse convinced them to stay and their chief was Cirdan.
But also, many others didn't want to leave without their king Elwe who was lost in Nam Elmoth (when he met Melian) and they were left behind.
The elves that reached Aman and saw the light of the trees are called the Calaquendi, The elves of the light, the high elves and they are much more powerful than those that stayed in Middle Earth (that explains why Morgoth understimated the Noldor, he had fought to the Sindar and didn't realize the Noldor were much stronger).
Those who never saw the light of the trees are called the Moriquendi, the dark elves, the term dark doesn't mean they were dark of spirit but that they never saw the light of Aman.
But the group that stayed with Elwe was like in between. Because Elwe had seen the lights of the trees, and because of the power of Melian, they were wiser and more powerful than the rest of the Moriquendi, they were called the Sindar, or the grey elves, the term grey has a double meaning, because they were the followers or Elwe, that in Sindarin was known as Elu Thingol, King gremantle because he used to wear one. but also because the Sindar were less powerful than the Calaquendi but more than the Moriquendi.
Finally, the Silvan elves are believed to be Nandor and Avari, they were way less skilled than the Sindar or the Calaquendi, less strong, less wise.
There is a table at the end of the Silmarillion that more or less explain the divisions.
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