Kurosh
Man of prowess, power, or warrior from Persian origin.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Kurosh. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kurosh today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kurosh births was 1992 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kurosh. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Kurosh. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1992
6 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
1992 SSA rank
#8,011
Tracked since 1990
Popularity
Kurosh: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Kurosh 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 Kurosh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Kurosh
Kurosh is a Persian name with roots dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Old Persian word "Kūrush" or "Kūruš", meaning "sun" or "light". The name has been prevalent in Iranian culture for centuries and is closely associated with the legendary Achaemenid ruler Cyrus the Great, also known as Kurosh-e Bozorg.
The name Kurosh gained significant prominence during the reign of Cyrus the Great (circa 600-530 BCE), the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. He is celebrated in the Cyrus Cylinder, an ancient clay cylinder that is considered one of the earliest records of human rights and religious tolerance. The name Kurosh is mentioned in the ancient Avestan texts of Zoroastrianism, as well as in the works of Greek historians such as Herodotus and Xenophon.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kurosh can be found in the Behistun Inscription, a multi-lingual inscription dating back to circa 520 BCE, commissioned by the Achaemenid king Darius the Great. The inscription mentions Kurosh (Cyrus) as the founder of the Persian Empire.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Kurosh. Among them are Kurosh II (circa 440-401 BCE), the Achaemenid king who reigned from 424 to 401 BCE, and Kurosh the Younger (circa 423-401 BCE), the son of Darius II who unsuccessfully attempted to seize the Persian throne from his brother Artaxerxes II.
In the modern era, Kurosh has been a popular name among Iranians. Some notable figures include Kurosh Hashemi (1928-2002), an Iranian musician and composer, and Kurosh Yazdani (born 1959), an Iranian-American mathematician and professor at the University of California, Irvine.
Kurosh has also been used as a literary name, appearing in works such as the epic poem "Shahnameh" by the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi (940-1020 CE). The name continues to hold cultural significance in Iran and among the Iranian diaspora, reflecting the rich heritage and traditions of the Persian civilization.
People
Kurosh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kurosh as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kurosh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kurosh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kurosh 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Kurosh a common name?
We classify Kurosh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kurosh most popular?
The single biggest year for Kurosh was 1992, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kurosh is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Kurosh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kurosh a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kurosh 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 Kurosh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kurosh 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 Kurosh 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Kurosh?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.