unisex name
Cruz
KROOZ
- Origin Spanish
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 40,076
the United States
#331
2025 births
Cruz is a name of Spanish origin meaning "cross." It began as a devotional surname taken from the Christian cross, and is one of our detected gender flips — it moved from female toward male use.
- Cruz is a name of Spanish origin.
- Peaked in 2013, when 1,278 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,188 babies in the United States is given this name.
- Cruz started out as a girls' name and is now given almost entirely to boys.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Cruz over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 6 |
| 1890s | 31 |
| 1900s | 124 |
| 1910s | 602 |
| 1920s | 1,368 |
| 1930s | 1,181 |
| 1940s | 1,196 |
| 1950s | 1,285 |
| 1960s | 1,070 |
| 1970s | 1,055 |
| 1980s | 1,555 |
| 1990s | 2,388 |
| 2000s | 5,345 |
| 2010s | 11,246 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,572 |
What Cruz means
Cruz means cross, from the Latin crux. As a surname it was devotional rather than descriptive, marking a family's dedication to the cross rather than any physical feature.
Where Cruz comes from
Cruz is the Spanish and Portuguese cruz, a cross, from the Latin crux. It belongs to a family of Catholic devotional surnames — de la Cruz, Santa Cruz — taken from religious dedications rather than places or trades, a pattern far more common in Iberian naming than in English. The word gives English crux, crucial and excruciating, the last literally meaning from the cross. Its use as a first name in the English-speaking world is recent and largely follows Cruz Beckham, born 2005.
Cruz in use
Our data records Cruz for both sexes and shows it stable, peaking in 2013, at 200 in England and Wales against 331 in the United States. It first appears in our records in 1880. It is one of our 143 female-to-male flips — the less famous direction, and the one our Ashley entry corrects the record on.
How popular is Cruz?
In 2025, Cruz was given to 1,040 babies in the United States, ranking #331 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Cruz is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Cruz
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Cruz also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Cruz over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Cruz in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Cruz
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Cruz — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Cruz
What does the name Cruz mean?
Cruz means "cross," from the Latin crux.
Is Cruz a religious name?
Originally, yes. It is a Catholic devotional surname taken from the cross rather than from a place or trade.
Is Cruz a boy's or a girl's name?
Both. Our data records it as one of 143 names that moved from female toward male use.
How popular is the name Cruz?
In 2025, Cruz was given to 1,040 babies in the United States, ranking #331 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
How many syllables are in Cruz?
Cruz has 1 syllable.
When was Cruz most popular?
Cruz peaked in 2013, when 1,278 babies were given the name. Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
Is Cruz a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Cruz currently ranks #170 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.