We studied features of Raman scattering in silicon nanowire (SiNW) layers of 50 – 350 nm in diameter formed by means of chemical etching of crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers with preliminary deposited silver nanoparticles in hydrofluoric acid. The c-Si wafers of different crystallographic orientations and doping levels were used, which results in variations of the formed nanostructure size and degree of order. Raman scattering was found to be depolarized, its efficiency strongly depends on excitation wavelength. For the excitation at 1064 nm the ratio of Raman scattering signals for SiNWs and those for initial c-Si wafer ranges from 2 to 5, whereas for shorter wavelengths the ratio increases for more ordered arrays of SiNWs of greater diameter and decreases for less ordered SiNW structures. The obtained results are explained by the effect of partial light localization in SiNW ensembles.