Cyril
Masculine · “lordly”
Cyril is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 12,034 boys against 97 girls since 1880.
Cyril is Greek for lordly, and the man who carried it invented an alphabet. Several hundred million people write in a script named after him.
How old is the name Cyril?
Cyril was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Cyril alive today was born around 1929, making them about 96 years old. About 4,300 people named Cyril are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cyril most popular?
Cyril peaked in 1902, reaching #261 nationally. Today it ranks #3128, 2,867 places below that high. See the whole 1902 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Kyrillos to Cyril
The story of Cyril
Cyril and his brother Methodius were ninth-century Byzantine missionaries sent to the Slavs, and to translate scripture they needed an alphabet that could carry Slavic sounds. The Glagolitic script they devised was reworked by their followers into the one that bears his name, and it is still used from Belgrade to Vladivostok. The name spread through the Orthodox world on that account, and separately through the Western church through an earlier Cyril of Alexandria.
Meaning
lordly, masterful
From Greek kyrios, 'lord' or 'master', the same word used of God throughout the Greek New Testament. The derivation is straightforward and has not been questioned.
How the name formed
- Kyrillos
- Cyrillus
- Cyril
Related forms: Kirill · Cyril · Cyrille · Kyrillos
Pronouncing Cyril
SIR-il
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Russian Kirill puts the stress on the second and keeps a hard k at the front.
Nicknames for Cyril
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1921328 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #261reached in 1902
- Change vs 2022
- −13.6%38 in 2025, from 44
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.
Cyril in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kirill in Russian — same name
- Cyril in Czech — same name
- Cyrille in French — same name
- Kyrillos in Greek — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Cyrils among us
people named Cyril are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 44,949 born in 2025 was named Cyril
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Cyril 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 Cyril is headed
Cyril 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.
Cyril beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cyril in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A name attached to the invention of a writing system, which almost no other name can claim.
- Cy is a short, current, easy everyday form.
- It is a living name in Russian, Czech and French as well as English.
- In British English the name is period-coded and reads as belonging to the early twentieth century.
- The C is soft in English and hard in Slavic languages, so the same name sounds quite different depending on who is saying it.
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What they receive
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Cyril
Masculine · #3128 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Cyrils are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,300 people named Cyril are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cyril in 2025?
- Cyril ranks #3128 among US boy names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cyril?
- About 1 in every 44,949 US boys born in 2025 was named Cyril — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cyril with classmates?
- Cyril will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cyril
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hamilton#3128 · Juanpablo#3128 · Courtney#3128 · Baxter#3128 · Javen#3128 · Hal#3128 · Dawud#3128 · Tavion#3128
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cyril? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cyril and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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