Cyrus
Masculine
Cyrus is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 29,208 boys against 78 girls since 1880.
Cyrus comes down to English from Old Persian Kūruš by way of Greek Kyros — the name of the king who founded the Achaemenid Empire in the sixth century BC and who appears in the Hebrew Bible as the ruler who sent the exiles home from Babylon. Two clean syllables, stress on the first, and a short form, Cy, that has been in use for centuries. It has never dropped off the American record, and it is being handed out again to newborns.
How old is the name Cyrus?
Cyrus was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Cyrus alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 24,500 people named Cyrus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cyrus most popular?
Cyrus peaked in 1880, reaching #216 nationally. Today it ranks #268, 52 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Where it comes from
From Kūruš to Cyrus
The story of Cyrus
The oldest form is Old Persian Kūruš, the name of Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire in the sixth century BC. Hebrew scripture calls him Koresh and credits him with ending the Babylonian exile; Greek writers made him Kyros, and Xenophon built a whole education-of-a-prince treatise, the Cyropaedia, around him. Latin gave the spelling Cyrus, and English-speaking Protestants, reaching past the usual saints' names into the Old Testament, put it on their sons — it took firm root in New England and traveled west with them. In Iran the same name continues in its own line as Kourosh.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The Old Persian Kūruš has no agreed translation. Greek and Roman writers connected it with a word for the sun, and that reading still circulates; modern scholars have proposed a sense of 'young' from Old Persian, and others suspect a pre-Persian, possibly Elamite, source. A separate strand comes from Greek: kyrios, 'lord', which resembles Kyros closely enough that early Greek speakers linked the two, though the resemblance is likely coincidence.
How the name formed
- Kūruš
- Koresh
- Kyros
- Cyrus
Related forms: Kourosh · Koresh · Kyros · Ciro · Ciro · Kir
Pronouncing Cyrus
SY-rus
Two syllables, stress on the first, opening like the word 'sigh'. Persian-speaking relatives may use Kourosh instead, pronounced koo-ROOSH, which is the same name on its own road.
Nicknames for Cyrus
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
- 20251,284 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #216reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- +22.9%1,284 in 2025, from 1,045
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.
Cyrus in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kourosh in Persian — same name
- Koresh in Hebrew — transliteration
- Kyros in Greek — same name
- Ciro in Italian — same name
- Ciro in Spanish — same name
- Kir in Russian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Cyruss among us
people named Cyrus are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,330 born in 2025 was named Cyrus
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
Cyrus is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Cyrus is headed
Cyrus looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 25% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
High 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.
Cyrus beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cyrus in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One settled short form, Cy, ready and unmistakable, plus a full form that needs no explanation on a form or a diploma.
- A spelling most English speakers can write on hearing it, backed by centuries of use in Bibles, histories and family records.
- Continuous presence in American records rather than a revival from nothing — old people, young people and newborns all carry it.
- Lives in several languages at once: Kourosh in Persian, Ciro in Italian and Spanish, Koresh in Hebrew.
- Two syllables with a hard first stress, which sits easily beside both short and long surnames.
- Many Americans meet Cyrus first as a surname, thanks to well-known bearers of that last name in country and pop music. It reads as a surname to some ears, which may mean an occasional double take.
- In a Persian-speaking family, expect the name to be spoken two ways — Cyrus at school, Kourosh at home. That is usually a pleasure rather than a problem, but it is worth deciding early which one goes on the birth certificate.
- The -us ending puts it in company with Marcus, Titus and Silas; whether that grouping suits your surname is worth reading aloud a few times.
- It is being chosen more often again, so it is unlikely to feel odd — but a child with this name will most likely still be the only one in the classroom.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Cyrus to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Cyrus
Masculine · #268 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Cyruss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 24,500 people named Cyrus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cyrus in 2025?
- Cyrus ranks #268 among US boy names in 2025, with 1,284 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cyrus?
- About 1 in every 1,330 US boys born in 2025 was named Cyrus — 1,284 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cyrus with classmates?
- Cyrus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cyrus
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Koa#269 · Saint#267 · Bowen#266 · Karter#270 · Steven#271 · Bodhi#265 · Kayson#264 · Malcolm#272
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cyrus? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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