Cyrus
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Meaning
meaning uncertain; borne by Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire
The story
A king's reputation can arrive in a surprisingly small package: a cylinder of clay. The Cyrus Cylinder records the conquest of Babylon and presents Cyrus as a restorer of its religious traditions. Written in Babylonian cuneiform and buried in the city's foundations, it preserves the account his rule wanted to leave behind. That distinction makes the object more interesting: we are hearing royal self-presentation, with all its ambition, across the centuries. Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire. His name travelled too, from Old Persian Kuruš through Greek Kyros into Latin Cyrus, though its ultimate meaning remains uncertain. The clay gives us something firmer than a convenient translation. An ancient ruler wanted the future to understand him a certain way. His name survives beside that very human wish to be remembered.
How popular is Cyrus around the world?
In the United States, 6,680 babies were named Cyrus between 2020 and 2025. In New Zealand, 24 boys named Cyrus were registered in 2025.
Cyrus is on the official records of the United States, New Zealand, Canada, England and Wales, Scotland, South Australia, Ireland, France, Mexico City, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 3,300
In the United States, 6,680 babies were named Cyrus between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Cyrus peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Cyrus has stayed between 789 and 6,680 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
1 in 2,400
In New Zealand, 24 boys named Cyrus were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Canada
1 in 3,800
In Canada, 96 boys named Cyrus were born in 2024, the 340th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 6,400
In England and Wales, 91 boys named Cyrus were born in 2025, the 432nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Scotland
1 in 7,600
In Scotland, 6 boys named Cyrus were registered in 2024, the 478th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 boys were registered as Cyrus in 2017.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Ireland
1 in 18,000
In Ireland, 3 boys named Cyrus were born in 2025, the 829th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
France
1 in 64,000
In France, about 10 boys named Cyrus were born in 2025, ranked 2,543rd among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Mexico City City
1 in 120,000
In Mexico City, there was 1 registration of Cyrus in 2022.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Spain
1 in 1.9M
In Spain, 24 residents are named Cyrus, ranked 26,053rd among men, with a mean age of 37.7 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2018
Cyrus is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Austria
last on record 2020
Cyrus is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 40 people in Brazil were named Cyrus, ranked 77,494th, with a median age of 40.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Not on the record in Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Cyrus
Most people given the name Cyrus in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Cyrus · Persian baby names · Names of generals and commanders · Names of kings and queens · Familiar but never popular
The Cyrus deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Cyrus truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Cyrus fits with your family’s names and surname.
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