Cyrus
Meaning of Cyrus
Cyrus, an Anglicized form of the Old Persian Kurush, is most plausibly translated by philologists as “sun” or, in a minority view, “throne,” and it entered the Western onomasticon through the Septuagint’s rendering of the Achaemenid ruler Cyrus II (“the Great”), whose policy of repatriating exiles endowed the name with connotations of enlightened leadership and juridical tolerance. From that biblical–classical gateway the name migrated into English usage, where it was particularly favored in early American Protestant communities and, after a mid-20th-century trough, has shown steady resurgence: U.S. birth-record data indicate a climb from rank 629 in 1990 to 241 in 2024, a trajectory suggesting renewed appreciation among parents for its concise phonetic profile (SY-ruhs) and historical gravitas. Modern associations range from the diplomatic legacy of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to fictional representations in science-fiction and graphic novels, yet these contemporary bearers have done little to eclipse the enduring archetype of Cyrus as a symbol of visionary governance and cosmopolitan breadth.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as SY-ruhs (ˈsaɪrəs)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Cyrus
| Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Empire by defeating the Medes and uniting much of West and Central Asia, a realm later expanded to its greatest extent by Darius the Great. |
| Cyrus Vance Jr. is an American attorney and former Manhattan district attorney, son of former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, now a partner at Baker McKenzie. |
| Cyrus Hall McCormick was an American inventor and businessman from the Blue Ridge of Virginia who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, later part of International Harvester, and became a prominent Chicago resident. |
| Kamyar Cyrus Habib is a Jesuit, lawyer, and former politician who served as a Washington state legislator and as lieutenant governor from 2017 to 2021, becoming the first Iranian American elected to statewide office in the US. |
| Cyrus Mistry was an Indian-born Irish billionaire who chaired Tata Group from 2012 to 2016 until his ouster sparked a legal battle that ended with the Supreme Court upholding his dismissal. |
| Cyrus Edwin Dallin was an American sculptor and Olympic archer known for Native American subjects and for works like the Paul Revere statue in Boston and the Angel Moroni atop the Salt Lake Temple. |
| Cyrus Homi Chothia was an English biochemist, emeritus scientist at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology and emeritus fellow of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. |
| Cyrus West Field was an American financier who helped found the Atlantic Telegraph Company and laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1858. |
| Cyrus Stephen Eaton Sr. was a Canadian American investment banker, businessman, and philanthropist whose career spanned seven decades. |
| Cyrus Herzl Gordon was an American scholar known for his work on Near Eastern cultures and ancient languages. |
| Cyrus Hashemi was an Iranian arms dealer linked to Iran Contra and other 1980s scandals who filed a libel suit that was dismissed in 1983 and died of leukemia in London in 1986. |
| Cyrus Thomas was a late 19th century American ethnologist and entomologist known for studying the natural history of the American West. |
| Cyrus Massoumi founded Zocdoc, Dr. B, and Humbition, and served as CEO of Zocdoc for eight years. |
| Cyrus Berenice Kouandjio is a Cameroonian former NFL offensive tackle who was a 2013 consensus All American at Alabama and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round in 2014. |
| Cyrus Northrop served as an American university president. |
