Cylus
Masculine
Cylus is a respelling of Cyrus, the Greek form of the Persian throne name Kurush — borne by the king who founded the Achaemenid empire and let the Judean exiles go home.
How old is the name Cylus?
Cylus first appears in US birth records in 1997 — 28 years ago. The typical Cylus is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Cylus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cylus most popular?
Cylus peaked in 2012, reaching #1882 nationally. Today it ranks #3513, 1,631 places below that high. See the whole 2012 chart.
Where it comes from
From Kurush to Cylus
The story of Cylus
Cyrus the Great built the largest empire the world had yet seen and is remembered in the Hebrew Bible with unusual warmth — Isaiah calls him the Lord's anointed for permitting the return from exile. The name entered English through the Bible and was well used by American Protestant families in the nineteenth century. Cylus is a modern respelling that fixes the first vowel and loses the Persian shape.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Old Persian Kurush has no settled derivation. Readings offered include sun, young and far-sighted, and the Greeks connected it to their own word for lord; none is established. The name is certainly very old and certainly unexplained.
How the name formed
- Kurush
- Cyrus
- Cylus
Related forms: Cyrus · Kourosh · Kyros
Pronouncing Cylus
SY-lus
Two syllables, first stressed. Cyrus is SY-rus, and the l replaces the r.
Nicknames for Cylus
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
- 1997
- Most boys named
- 201277 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1882reached in 2012
- Change vs 2024
- +10.3%32 in 2025, from 29
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.
Cylus in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cyrus in English — spelling variant
- Kourosh in Persian — same name
- Kyros in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
Cyluss among us
people named Cylus are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 53,377 born in 2025 was named Cylus
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Cylus
- #3513
- Cylus on the 2025 chart
- #820
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Cylus went to 32 boys in 2025, but Sylus and Silus are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 108, which makes it the 820th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,693 places above the chart.
- Sylus66
- Cylus32
- Silus10
About 1 boy in 15,816 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 53,377 for Cylus itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Quention test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Cylus's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Quention climbed just as high around 1919, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Quention's path sketches the road Cylus is walking now.
Cylus 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
Where Cylus is headed
Cylus should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Cylus beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cylus in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented historical figure of the first rank stands behind the sound.
- Cy is a short form with real nineteenth-century American history.
- Read correctly on sight by most English speakers.
- Cyrus is the standard spelling and the r will be restored for him constantly.
- It is very close to Silas, which is a separate biblical name.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown despite the name's age and fame.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Cylus
Masculine · #3513 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Cyluss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Cylus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Cylus?
- Cylus is one of 3 recorded spellings. Sylus is the more common one — 66 births in 2025 against 32 for Cylus.
- How popular is the name Cylus in 2025?
- Cylus ranks #3513 among US boy names in 2025, with 32 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cylus?
- About 1 in every 53,377 US boys born in 2025 was named Cylus — 32 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cylus with classmates?
- Cylus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cylus
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Bradford#3513 · Denton#3513 · Harden#3513 · Geronimo#3513 · Breon#3513 · Hashem#3513 · Jamere#3513 · Leslie#3513
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cylus? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cylus and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
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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