Kruz
Masculine · Latin roots · “cross”
Kruz is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 2,659 boys against 64 girls since 1880.
Kruz is the K-spelling of Cruz, the Spanish and Portuguese word for "cross" — a name that began as a devotional surname and then walked forward into first-name use. It is one syllable, opening on that hard K and closing on a buzzing z, so it lands in the mouth like a single stroke. Familiar in sound, unusual on paper.
How old is the name Kruz?
Kruz first appears in US birth records in 1987 — 38 years ago. The typical Kruz is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,600 people named Kruz are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kruz most popular?
Kruz peaked in 2020, reaching #1069 nationally. Today it ranks #1212, 143 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From crux (Latin) to Kruz
The story of Kruz
Cruz began as a Spanish and Portuguese religious byname, taken from devotion to the Cross, and it became one of the widespread surnames of the Iberian world and Latin America. From surname it moved into given-name use, as many Spanish devotional names did, and it traveled with families into the United States, where it has been given to boys for generations. Kruz is the recent American respelling of that same name — the K substitution that English speakers have applied to Kaden, Kayleigh and Jaxon alike. Its own record on the charts is short and unbroken rather than deep, which is why almost every Kruz alive is young.
Meaning
cross
The meaning belongs to Cruz, from Latin crux, "cross"; Kruz is a respelling that carries the same word. In Spanish and Portuguese Catholic tradition the reference is specifically to the Holy Cross, as in place names like Santa Cruz — "holy cross."
How the name formed
- cruxLatin
- Cruz
- Kruz
Related forms: Cruz · Cruz · Croce · Creu
Pronouncing Kruz
KROOZ
One syllable, rhyming with "cruise" and "lose"; the final letter is a z sound, not an s. In Spanish, Cruz is said much the same way, with a lighter final consonant.
Nicknames for Kruz
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
- 1987
- Most boys named
- 2022197 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1069reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- +7.7%167 in 2025, from 155
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.
Kruz in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cruz in Spanish — same name
- Cruz in Portuguese — same name
- Croce in Italian — related form
- Creu in Catalan — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Louisiana.
Kruzs among us
people named Kruz are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 10,228 born in 2025 was named Kruz
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kruz
- #1212
- Kruz on the 2025 chart
- #281
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kruz went to 167 boys in 2025, but Cruz is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 1,192, which makes it the 281st most-given boys’ name of the year — 931 places above the chart.
- Cruz1,025
- Kruz167
About 1 boy in 1,433 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 10,228 for Kruz 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 Caelan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kruz's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Caelan climbed just as high around 2001, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Caelan's path sketches the road Kruz is walking now.
Kruz 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 Kruz is headed
Kruz 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.
Kruz beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kruz in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, and every sound in it is ordinary English — people say it correctly on first hearing, even when they have not seen it before.
- A documented meaning behind it: "cross," through the Spanish and Portuguese Cruz.
- Connects a child to a name well established across the Spanish-speaking world, where Cruz works as both surname and given name.
- Short enough to sit easily in front of almost any surname, and it pairs well with a longer middle name.
- The standard spelling is Cruz, and that is what most people will write down. Expect a lifetime of gentle correcting — at the pharmacy, on team rosters, in email.
- It is a homophone of "cruise," which some children will notice and play with. Usually harmless, occasionally tiresome.
- The meaning is explicitly Christian in origin. That is a plus for some families and simply a fact to know for others.
- With one syllable and no established short forms, there is no fallback nickname if a Kruz ever wants one.
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Kruz
Masculine · Latin roots · #1212 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kruzs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,600 people named Kruz are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kruz?
- Kruz is one of 2 recorded spellings. Cruz is the more common one — 1,025 births in 2025 against 167 for Kruz.
- How popular is the name Kruz in 2025?
- Kruz ranks #1212 among US boy names in 2025, with 167 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kruz?
- About 1 in every 10,228 US boys born in 2025 was named Kruz — 167 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kruz with classmates?
- Kruz will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kruz
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Harlow#1212 · Jahkai#1212 · Dovid#1212 · Bilal#1212 · Jahziel#1217 · Draven#1217 · Syed#1217 · Luan#1217
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kruz? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kruz and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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