unisex name
Kyrie
KY-ree
- Origin Greek
- Gender Unisex
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 24,901
the United States
#244
2025 births
Kyrie is a unisex name of Greek origin meaning "lord". It comes from the vocative of kyrios and reaches English through the Kyrie eleison of Christian liturgy. Its modern use is largely American and owes much to the basketball player Kyrie Irving.
- Kyrie is a name of Greek origin.
- Peaked in 2017, when 1,956 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,227 babies in the United States is given this name.
- Kyrie started out as a girls' name and is now given almost entirely to boys.
- First appears in US birth records in 1969.
Kyrie over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1960s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 7 |
| 1970s | 49 |
| 1980s | 507 |
| 1990s | 782 |
| 2000s | 1,082 |
| 2010s | 10,456 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 10,027 |
What Kyrie means
Kyrie means lord, as a form of address rather than a title — the Greek kyrie is what you say when speaking to a lord, not what you call one. In the liturgy it opens the plea Kyrie eleison, Lord have mercy.
Where Kyrie comes from
Kyrie is the vocative case of the Greek kyrios, lord or master. It entered Western use through the Kyrie eleison, one of the oldest surviving Greek phrases in the Latin Mass, retained untranslated when the rest of the liturgy moved into Latin and set to music by composers for well over a millennium. As a given name it is modern and largely American; the spelling is stable but the pronunciation is not, with KY-ree and KEER-ee-ay both in regular use, the first following the basketball player and the second following the liturgy.
Kyrie in use
Kyrie peaked in 2017, the year after Kyrie Irving's championship-winning shot, and charts in only four of the seven countries we track.
How popular is Kyrie?
In 2025, Kyrie was given to 1,489 babies in the United States, ranking #244 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Kyrie 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 Kyrie
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kyrie also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kyrie over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Kyrie
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.
Kyrie 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 Kyrie
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kyrie — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kyrie
What does the name Kyrie mean?
Kyrie means lord. It is the Greek form used when addressing someone, and it opens the liturgical phrase Kyrie eleison, Lord have mercy.
How do you pronounce Kyrie?
Both KY-ree and KEER-ee-ay are in use. The first follows the basketball player Kyrie Irving and the second follows the church music.
Is Kyrie a boy's or a girl's name?
Both, though it is given more often to boys in the United States.
How popular is the name Kyrie?
In 2025, Kyrie was given to 1,489 babies in the United States, ranking #244 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
When was Kyrie most popular?
Kyrie peaked in 2017, when 1,956 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Kyrie?
Kyrie is usually shortened to Ky and Rie.
Is Kyrie a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kyrie currently ranks #244 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.