Cyrus
A masculine given name of Persian origin meaning "throne" or "sun".
Name Census estimates that about 23,370 living Americans carry the first name Cyrus. It sits at #254 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cyrus today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cyrus births was 2024 (1,391 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cyrus. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Cyrus with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Cyrus is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 66 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
23K
~ 1 in 14,666 Americans
Peak year
2024
1,391 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#254
Tracked since 1880
Census
Cyrus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 17,986 people with the first name Cyrus, which placed it at #1,715 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,715
National first-name rank
People counted
18K
17,986 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cyrus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cyrus is White at 54.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.1%) and Hispanic (11.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Cyrus described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Cyrus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.9% · 9,881
- Black or African American13.1% · 2,362
- Hispanic or Latino11.8% · 2,127
- Two or more races9.6% · 1,723
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.9% · 1,596
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 297
Gender
Gender distribution for Cyrus
Out of the 27,974 babies given the name Cyrus since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Cyrus as a male name
- Ranked #254 in 2024
- 1,380 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (1,380 births)
Cyrus as a female name
- Ranked #9,039 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cyrus appears almost entirely male. Of the 17,992 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Cyrus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cyrus from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6,616 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cyrus 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 Cyrus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cyrus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Cyrus, while Wyoming, Vermont, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 421 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cyrus
The name Cyrus is derived from the Persian word "Kūrush", which means "far-sighted" or "young" in the ancient Persian language. It has its origins in the Persian Empire, which was founded in the 6th century BCE and spanned across parts of Western Asia and the Caucasus.
The name Cyrus gained significant historical prominence due to its association with Cyrus the Great, who ruled the Persian Empire from 559 BCE to 530 BCE. He was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire and is renowned for his military campaigns, as well as his policies of religious tolerance and respect for cultural diversity.
The name Cyrus is mentioned in several ancient texts, including the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), where it refers to Cyrus the Great and his role in allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon. The biblical book of Ezra and the book of Isaiah both mention Cyrus by name.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Cyrus can be traced back to the 6th century BCE, during the reign of Cyrus the Great. Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne this name, including:
1. Cyrus the Younger (423 BCE - 401 BCE), a Persian prince and younger son of Darius II, who led a rebellion against his brother Artaxerxes II.
2. Cyrus of Panopolis (5th century CE), a Greek poet and philosopher from Egypt.
3. Cyrus of Alexandria (6th century CE), a Greek bishop and theologian who played a significant role in the Christological debates of his time.
4. Cyrus the Younger (590 CE - 660 CE), a Byzantine general and close advisor to Emperor Constans II.
5. Cyrus the Patrician (8th century CE), a Byzantine aristocrat and governor of the Exarchate of Ravenna during the Byzantine-Lombard Wars.
The name Cyrus has been used across various cultures and time periods, reflecting its enduring legacy and historical significance. While its origins can be traced back to ancient Persia, the name has transcended its geographical boundaries and continues to be used in various parts of the world today.
People
Cyrus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cyrus 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
Cyrus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cyrus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23,370 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cyrus 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 14,666 US residents.
Is Cyrus a common name?
We classify Cyrus as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27,974 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cyrus most popular?
The single biggest year for Cyrus was 2024, when 1,391 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cyrus is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cyrus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 17,986 people with the name Cyrus, or 5.96 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,715 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Cyrus in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Cyrus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cyrus appears almost entirely male. Of the 17,992 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Cyrus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cyrus is White at 54.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.1%) and Hispanic (11.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Cyrus most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cyrus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.9% (9,881 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Cyrus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cyrus a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Cyrus 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.
Is Cyrus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cyrus in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Cyrus can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Cyrus?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.