Spiros
A Greek masculine name meaning "breathed" or "soul".
Name Census estimates that about 551 living Americans carry the first name Spiros. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Spiros today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Spiros births was 1977 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Spiros. 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 Spiros with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
551
~ 1 in 622,059 Americans
Peak year
1977
24 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,916
Tracked since 1918
Census
Spiros in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 810 people with the first name Spiros, which placed it at #14,534 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
#14,534
National first-name rank
People counted
810
810 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
96.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Spiros
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Spiros is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.5%) and Two or More Races (0.6%). 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 Spiros 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 Spiros at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.2% · 779
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 20
- Two or more races0.6% · 5
- Black or African American0.4% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
Popularity
Spiros: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Spiros from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 175 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Spiros 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 Spiros during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Spiros' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Spiros
The name Spiros originates from the Greek language and has its roots in antiquity. It is derived from the Greek word "speira," which means "coil" or "spiral." This name was likely given to individuals in ancient Greece as a reference to the spiral patterns found in nature, such as in seashells or whirlpools.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Spiros can be found in the works of ancient Greek philosophers and writers from the 5th century BCE. The philosopher Spiros of Byzantium was a student of Plato and a contemporary of Aristotle. Although little is known about his life, his name has been documented in philosophical texts from that era.
During the Byzantine Empire, which lasted from the 4th to the 15th century CE, the name Spiros gained popularity among the Greek population. Several notable individuals bore this name, including Spiros Skleros, a military commander who led a rebellion against the Byzantine Emperor in the late 10th century.
In more recent history, the name Spiros has been associated with several influential figures. One of the most renowned was Spiros Melas (1876-1904), a Greek military officer and hero of the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. His bravery and leadership during the Battle of Velestino earned him a place in Greek national folklore.
Another notable figure was Spiros Mercouris (1939-2020), a Greek Cypriot playwright and author. His works explored themes of identity, displacement, and the complexities of life in a divided Cyprus. He was widely recognized for his contributions to Cypriot literature and received numerous awards throughout his career.
The name Spiros has also been carried by individuals in the world of sports. Spiros Arion (1933-2023) was a Greek professional basketball player and coach, widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the sport in Greece. He represented the Greek national team and won multiple championships as a player and coach.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals who have borne the name Spiros throughout history. While its origins can be traced back to ancient Greece, the name has endured and continues to be used in various parts of the world, particularly in Greek communities.
People
Spiros + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Spiros as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Spiros: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Spiros?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 551 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Spiros 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 622,059 US residents.
Is Spiros a common name?
We classify Spiros as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 639 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Spiros most popular?
The single biggest year for Spiros was 1977, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Spiros is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Spiros in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 810 people with the name Spiros, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,534 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 Spiros 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 Spiros?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Spiros appears almost entirely male. Of the 808 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Spiros?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Spiros is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.5%) and Two or More Races (0.6%). 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 Spiros most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Spiros in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.2% (779 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 Spiros in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Spiros a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Spiros 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 Spiros still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Spiros 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 Spiros 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 people have the name Spiros?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.