Silica (SiO2) nanoparticles have found applications in many advanced areas. This research work is concerned with the preparation of silica nanoparticles by the hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in ethanol medium and the effect of different surfactants such as cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) on the final particle size of silica nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles were systematically characterized by XRD, EDAX analysis, FTIR, UV-visible spectroscopy, particle size analysis and SEM. The XRD results revealed the amorphous nature of silica nanoparticles. Atomic percentage of silicon and oxygen was measured by EDAX analysis. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the presence of Si-O in all the samples. UV-visible spectra have shown an absorption band at around 225 nm in all the samples (dissolved in hot NaOH) which is accountable for silica. The sample prepared with the addition of SDS resulted in very low particle size and the same was confirmed with the particle characteristics data also.