boy's name
Cyrus
SY-russ
- Origin Persian
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 32,984
the United States
#268
2025 births
Cyrus is a boy's name of Persian origin whose meaning is not settled. It is the Greek form of the Old Persian Kurus, borne by the founder of the Persian Empire, and readings from "young" to "humiliator of the enemy" have all been proposed without one winning out.
- Cyrus is a name of Persian origin.
- Peaked in 2024, when 1,400 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,558 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Cyrus 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 | 441 |
| 1890s | 287 |
| 1900s | 252 |
| 1910s | 934 |
| 1920s | 1,102 |
| 1930s | 794 |
| 1940s | 755 |
| 1950s | 831 |
| 1960s | 789 |
| 1970s | 1,010 |
| 1980s | 1,527 |
| 1990s | 2,295 |
| 2000s | 4,970 |
| 2010s | 6,619 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,680 |
What Cyrus means
Cyrus is usually offered as sun or young, but neither is secure. The Old Persian Kurus has no agreed derivation, and the confident single-word meanings on most name pages are choices between competing scholarly guesses rather than translations.
Where Cyrus comes from
Cyrus is the Latin form of the Greek Kyros, itself rendering the Old Persian Kurus. Proposals for its root include a word for young, an Elamite name meaning one who bestows care, and a compound read as humiliator of the enemy — Persian scholarship has not resolved between them, and the name may not be Persian in origin at all. The bearer who carried it into every European language is Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire in the sixth century BC, who is named repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible as the king who ended the Babylonian exile and let the Jews return to Jerusalem — the only foreign ruler the text calls anointed.
Cyrus in use
Cyrus appears in our records in every year from 1880 and charts in six of the seven countries we track.
How popular is Cyrus?
In 2025, Cyrus was given to 1,296 babies in the United States, ranking #268 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Cyrus 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 Cyrus
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Cyrus also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Cyrus over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Cyrus
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Cyrus 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.
- Persian
- Kourosh
Sibling names for Cyrus
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Cyrus — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Cyrus
What does the name Cyrus mean?
It is not settled. Sun, young and humiliator of the enemy have all been proposed for the Old Persian Kurus, and no reading has been established.
Who was Cyrus in the Bible?
Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who ended the Babylonian exile and permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem. He is the only foreign ruler the Hebrew Bible calls anointed.
How do you pronounce Cyrus?
SY-russ, with the first syllable rhyming with sigh.
How popular is the name Cyrus?
In 2025, Cyrus was given to 1,296 babies in the United States, ranking #268 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Cyrus a girl's or a boy's name?
Cyrus is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Cyrus?
Cyrus has 2 syllables.
When was Cyrus most popular?
Cyrus peaked in 2024, when 1,400 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Cyrus?
Cyrus is usually shortened to Cy.
Is Cyrus a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Cyrus currently ranks #268 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.