Cire
A French unisex name related to the word "cire" meaning "wax".
Name Census estimates that about 462 living Americans carry the first name Cire. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Cire today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cire births was 2010 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cire. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
462
~ 1 in 741,893 Americans
Peak year
2010
27 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,122
Tracked since 1996
Gender
Gender distribution for Cire
Cire is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 467 total registrations, 295 (63.2%) were male and 172 (36.8%) were female.
Cire as a male name
- Ranked #9,122 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (21 births)
Cire as a female name
- Ranked #10,485 in 2023
- 9 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2009 (15 births)
Popularity
Cire: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cire from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 198 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cire remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cire by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Cire during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cires live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cire
The given name Cire is believed to have its origins in the ancient Celtic language of the British Isles, dating back to the 5th century AD or earlier. It is thought to be derived from the Proto-Celtic root word "cir," which means "red" or "reddish-brown," possibly referring to the color of someone's hair or complexion.
Some scholars have also suggested that Cire may have been influenced by the Latin word "cera," meaning "wax," as the name shares a similar pronunciation. However, the direct connection between these two words is not widely accepted.
In the early medieval period, the name Cire appeared in various ancient texts and records from the region, including the Annals of Ulster, which documented events in Ireland from the 5th to the 16th centuries. One notable figure from this time was Cire mac Niad, a legendary Irish warrior and king who is said to have lived in the 6th century.
As the name spread throughout the British Isles and beyond, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Ciaran, Kieran, and Kieren. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name was Saint Ciarán of Saigir, an Irish monk and scholar who lived in the 6th century and founded the monastery of Seir-Kieran in County Offaly, Ireland.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cire or its variants. Here are five examples:
1. Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (516-549), an Irish monk and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, who founded the famous monastery of Clonmacnoise in County Offaly.
2. Ciarán of Disert-Chiaráin (512-568), an Irish saint and founder of the monastery of Disert-Chiaráin in County Meath, Ireland.
3. Ciarán mac Tuathail (c. 1050-1135), an Irish king of the Uí Briúin dynasty who ruled over parts of Connacht, Ireland, in the 12th century.
4. Kieran Culkin (born in 1982), an American actor known for his roles in movies such as "Succession" and "Igby Goes Down."
5. Kieran Gibbs (born in 1989), an English professional footballer who has played for Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League.
While the name Cire may not be as common today as it once was, it continues to hold historical and cultural significance, particularly in Ireland and other parts of the Celtic world, where it has been a part of the naming tradition for centuries.
People
Cire + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cire as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cire: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cire?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 462 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cire going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 741,893 US residents.
Is Cire a common name?
We classify Cire as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 467 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cire most popular?
The single biggest year for Cire was 2010, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cire is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cire a male name?
Yes, 63.2% of people registered as Cire in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.