Sire
Masculine · Latin roots · “lord”
Sire is the word English kept for speaking to a king. It came in from Old French in the Middle Ages, and behind the French sits Latin senior, "the elder one" — the same root that gave Spanish señor and Italian signore. One syllable, ending in the open -ire that also closes fire and desire.
How old is the name Sire?
Sire first appears in US birth records in 1998 — 27 years ago. The typical Sire is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,700 people named Sire are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sire most popular?
Sire peaked in 2020, reaching #1225 nationally. Today it ranks #1466, 241 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Sire appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From senior (Latin) to Sire
The story of Sire
Latin senior, the comparative of senex "old," wore down in Old French to sire, the form used when addressing a superior. English borrowed it in the Middle Ages, and for centuries it was how a subject spoke to a monarch — the same word that gave French monsieur (literally "my lord") and, through a parallel line, Spanish señor. English also let sire mean father, and later the male parent of a horse, which is why it still turns up in stud books. Its life as a given name is a modern American development, arriving alongside a broader habit of using titles and honorifics — King, Prince, Legend — as first names. Its wave is very young, and its bearers are mostly children.
Meaning
lord; the form of address used to a king — from Latin senior, "elder"
The word's history is well documented; what is recent is its use as a first name.
How the name formed
- seniorLatin
- sireOld French
- sireMiddle English
- Sire
Related forms: Sire · Sire · Señor · Senhor
Pronouncing Sire
SYRE
Rhymes with fire and wire — the ordinary English word supplies the sound. In French the same word is said closer to "seer," so an occasional mishearing is worth expecting.
Nicknames for Sire
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
- 1998
- Most boys named
- 2022159 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1225reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- +21.0%121 in 2025, from 100
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.
Sire in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sire in French — same name
- Sire in Italian — same name
- Señor in Spanish — related form
- Senhor in Portuguese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Georgia.
Sires among us
people named Sire are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 14,116 born in 2025 was named Sire
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Sire
- #1466
- Sire on the 2025 chart
- #713
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Sire went to 121 boys in 2025, but Syre, Syire and Cire and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 7 spellings went to 217, which makes it the 713th most-given boys’ name of the year — 753 places above the chart.
- Sire121
- Syre40
- Syire22
- Cire14
- Syree9
- Cyire6
- Cyree5
About 1 boy in 7,871 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 14,116 for Sire 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 Javin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sire's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Javin climbed just as high around 2004, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Javin's path sketches the road Sire is walking now.
Sire 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 Sire is headed
Sire 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.
Sire beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sire 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 spelled exactly like a word most English speakers already know — it is written correctly on first hearing more often than not.
- No competing spellings to choose between or correct.
- Sits with the honorific first names — King, Prince, Legend — that have become an established pattern in American naming.
- Rare enough that a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
- It is a form of address before it is a name, so some adults will hear the throne-room word first — "yes, sire." Most people adjust after one introduction, but the association does not disappear.
- In breeding and horse racing, a sire is the male parent of an animal. It is a technical use, not an insult, but a child will meet it eventually and it is better met without surprise.
- The name's record is short, so there is no crowd of grown bearers to make it familiar to older ears. That means more explaining early on and less as the generation now carrying it grows up.
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Sire
Masculine · Latin roots · #1466 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sires are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Sire are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Sire?
- Sire is the most-used spelling in US records — 121 of the 217 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Syre, Syire, Cire, Syree, Cyire and Cyree.
- How popular is the name Sire in 2025?
- Sire ranks #1466 among US boy names in 2025, with 121 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sire?
- About 1 in every 14,116 US boys born in 2025 was named Sire — 121 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sire with classmates?
- Sire will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sire
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rodolfo#1466 · Malek#1466 · Akiva#1466 · Jetson#1466 · Monte#1466 · Joao#1466 · Calloway#1466 · Ishmael#1466
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sire? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sire and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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