Syris
Syris may be of Egyptian origin meaning "rising sun".
Name Census estimates that about 348 living Americans carry the first name Syris. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Syris today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Syris births was 2019 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Syris. 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
348
~ 1 in 984,926 Americans
Peak year
2019
22 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,845
Tracked since 1996
Census
Syris in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 234 people with the first name Syris, which placed it at #34,758 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
#34,758
National first-name rank
People counted
234
234 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Syris
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Syris is White at 46.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.8%) and Black (15.0%). 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 Syris 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 Syris at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.2% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino18.8% · 44
- Black or African American15.0% · 35
- Two or more races14.1% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 7
Popularity
Syris: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Syris 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 148 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Syris remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Syris 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 Syris during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Syris' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Syris
The name Syris has its roots in ancient Greek, originating from the word "syrizein," which means "to whistle" or "to hiss." This name likely emerged during the classical period of ancient Greece, around the 5th century BCE, when the region was a center of art, culture, and philosophy.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Syris can be found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who mentioned a person by that name in his writings from the 5th century BCE. However, the context and details surrounding this individual are scarce.
In the realm of mythology, there is a character named Syris mentioned in the Orphic Hymns, a collection of religious poems and hymns from ancient Greece. The hymns, which date back to the 3rd century BCE, suggest that Syris was a minor deity associated with the cult of Orphism, though little else is known about their significance.
The first notable historical figure bearing the name Syris was a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 4th century BCE. Syris of Cyrene, as he was known, was a student of the renowned philosopher Aristotle and authored several works on logic and mathematics, though most of his writings have been lost to time.
Another prominent individual with the name Syris was a Roman politician and military leader who lived during the 1st century BCE. Syris Publius Valerius was a consul in 86 BCE and played a significant role in the Roman Republic's conflicts with the Germanic tribes.
In the realm of literature, the name Syris appears in several ancient Greek plays and poems, though often as a minor character or reference. One notable example is the play "Syris" by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus, which unfortunately has not survived to the present day.
While the name Syris has its roots in ancient Greece, it has been used across various cultures and regions throughout history. In the Middle Ages, there are records of individuals bearing the name in various parts of Europe, though its usage was relatively uncommon.
Some other notable individuals with the name Syris include Syris of Alexandria, a 5th-century CE Christian scholar and theologian, and Syris the Patrician, a 6th-century CE Byzantine nobleman and military commander.
Overall, the name Syris has a rich and diverse history, with its origins tracing back to ancient Greece and its meaning rooted in the concept of whistling or hissing. While it has never been a widely popular name, it has been borne by various historical figures across different eras and cultures, reflecting its enduring appeal and unique character.
People
Syris + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Syris 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
Syris: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Syris?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 348 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Syris 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 984,926 US residents.
Is Syris a common name?
We classify Syris as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 351 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Syris most popular?
The single biggest year for Syris was 2019, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Syris is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Syris in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 234 people with the name Syris, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,758 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 Syris 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 Syris?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Syris leans strongly male. 216 people counted with this name were male (94.3%), compared with 13 female bearers (5.7%). 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 Syris?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Syris is White at 46.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.8%) and Black (15.0%). 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 Syris most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Syris in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.2% (108 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 Syris in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Syris a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Syris 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 Syris still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Syris 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 Syris 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 Syris?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.