Cruz
Feminine · “Spanish "cross”
Cruz is given to both — 4,232 girls and 30,792 boys since 1880. See Cruz as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Cruz means cross, and in Spanish naming it belongs to a category English does not really have: the devotional noun given directly as a name. Not a saint, not a place, but the object itself — Cruz, Luz, Consuelo, Socorro, Amparo, Rosario. These were female names in Spanish long before Cruz became a fashionable surname-style name for boys in English.
How old is the name Cruz?
Cruz first appears in US birth records in 1890 — 135 years ago. The typical Cruz alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 2,500 people named Cruz are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cruz most popular?
Cruz peaked in 1923, reaching #793 nationally. Today it ranks #7133, 6,340 places below that high. See the whole 1923 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From crux to Cruz
The story of Cruz
Spanish Catholic naming attaches a devotional title to María and then, in ordinary use, drops María and keeps the title. That is why a Spanish-speaking country can have thousands of women called Rosario, Consuelo or Cruz — each one is short for a longer Marian name that the family may never say aloud. The American female peak in 1923 sits inside the first large wave of Mexican migration to the United States and reflects that tradition intact. The later male use of Cruz in English comes from the surname and is a completely separate development.
Meaning
Spanish "cross"
From Latin crux. The name is a shortening of Marian and devotional titles — María de la Cruz, Santa Cruz — in which the noun stands for the whole invocation. The same process gives Luz from María de la Luz and Pilar from María del Pilar. In Spanish these are unambiguously women's names.
How the name formed
- crux
- cruz
- María de la Cruz
- Cruz
Related forms: Cruz · Croce · Creu
Pronouncing Cruz
KROOS
One syllable. In Latin American Spanish the z is an S sound; in Spain it is a th. English speakers say KRUZ with a Z, which is a third version and the most common in America.
Nicknames for Cruz
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1890
- Most girls named
- 192576 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #793reached in 1923
- Change vs 2022
- −46.4%15 in 2025, from 28
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Cruz in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cruz in Portuguese — same name
- Croce in Italian — related form
- Creu in Catalan — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Cruzs among us
people named Cruz are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 107,151 born in 2025 was named Cruz
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Ceola test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Cruz's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ceola climbed just as high around 1906, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ceola's path sketches the road Cruz is walking now.
Cruz sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Cruz beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cruz in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is transparent, settled and carries real devotional weight.
- One syllable, four letters, and impossible to misspell.
- It has a documented Spanish tradition behind the female use.
- In English it now reads strongly as a boys' name and as a surname.
- The final consonant is said three different ways depending on the speaker.
- The religious content is explicit rather than incidental.
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What they receive
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Cruz
Feminine · #7133 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Cruzs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,500 people named Cruz are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cruz in 2025?
- Cruz ranks #7133 among US girl names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cruz?
- About 1 in every 107,151 US girls born in 2025 was named Cruz — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cruz with classmates?
- Cruz will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cruz
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pennie#7133 · Zina#7133 · Elzie#7133 · Rosabel#7133 · Adelene#7133 · Kansas#7133 · Rivers#7133 · Ione#7133
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cruz? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cruz and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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