Syria
Feminine · “the land of Syria”
Syria is the name of an ancient land given as a girl's name, three soft syllables with the stress at the front. The word itself has a long history, and scholars argued for centuries over where it came from.
How old is the name Syria?
Syria first appears in US birth records in 1948 — 77 years ago. The typical Syria alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 600 people named Syria are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Syria most popular?
Syria peaked in 2004, reaching #3566 nationally. See the whole 2004 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Assyria to Syria
The story of Syria
Herodotus already treated Syrians and Assyrians as the same people under two names, and later scholars argued over whether the words were truly related. A bilingual inscription found near Adana in southern Turkey, carved in Luwian and Phoenician, seemed to settle it: where one language wrote the name of Assyria, the other used the shorter form, showing that Syria began as Assyria with its first syllable worn away. American families have given Syria to daughters, perhaps for the land and perhaps for the sound.
Meaningscholars disagree
the land of Syria, from Assyria
The Greek name Syria is now generally traced to Assyria. As a girl's name in America it may be the place-name used directly or a sound chosen near Sierra and Siria, and the record does not say which.
How the name formed
- Assyria
- Syria
Related forms: Sūriyā · Siria
Pronouncing Syria
SEER-ee-uh
Stress on the first syllable, said like the country.
Nicknames for Syria
Limited
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
- 1948
- Most girls named
- 200441 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3566reached in 2004
- Change vs 2023
- −16.7%5 in 2024, from 6
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.
Syria in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sūriyā in Arabic — related form
- Siria in Spanish — related form
Syrias among us
people named Syria 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
Syria 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 has a long, documented history as a place-name.
- It is soft and easy to say.
- Everyone will think of the country, and the news from it, before anything else.
- People may hear Sierra and spell it that way.
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Syria
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Syrias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Syria are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Syria in 2025?
- Syria is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Syria with classmates?
- Syria will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Susan#1085 · Sarah#90 · Sandra#1207 · Stephanie#557 · Sharon#1250 · Shirley#1581 · Samantha#151 · Sophia#5
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Syria? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Syria and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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