Cyrena
Feminine · “From Cyrene”
Cyrena is a Greek city on the Libyan coast that grew rich on a single plant — a herb so valuable it was stamped on the coinage, and so thoroughly harvested that it no longer exists.
How old is the name Cyrena?
Cyrena first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Cyrena alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 700 people named Cyrena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cyrena most popular?
Cyrena peaked in 1900, reaching #1723 nationally. See the whole 1900 chart.
Where it comes from
From Kyrene to Cyrena
The story of Cyrena
The plant was silphium, used as a seasoning and a medicine across the ancient Mediterranean, and it grew only in a narrow coastal strip around the city. It could not be cultivated — every attempt failed, and the supply came entirely from wild stands — so the city controlled the whole trade and put the plant on its coins. Demand rose, the strip was grazed and dug out, and within a few centuries it was gone. Ancient writers record the last stalk being sent to the emperor as a curiosity. It is the earliest well-documented extinction of a commercial species anywhere.
Meaningscholars disagree
From Cyrene
The city was named for a nymph of Greek legend, and the name may also be a respelling of Serena, which is Latin for calm. The record does not distinguish between the two routes.
How the name formed
- Kyrene
- Cyrena
Pronouncing Cyrena
sy-REE-nuh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The initial c is soft.
Nicknames for Cyrena
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
- 1900
- Most girls named
- 199726 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1723reached in 1900
- Change vs 2019
- +40.0%7 in 2023, from 5
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.
Cyrenas among us
people named Cyrena are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Cyrena sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It points at a real city with an unusually good story.
- The middle stress carries well and resists clipping.
- It shortens to a name that stands alone.
- Serena and Cyrene are both nearby and hers will be written as one of them.
- The initial letter will be read as an s or a k by turns.
- Two different origins are possible and the record does not choose.
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Cyrena
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Cyrenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Cyrena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cyrena in 2025?
- Cyrena is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Cyrena with classmates?
- Cyrena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cyrena? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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