Comments (Meaning / History Only)

There is a theory that the name actually derives from the Persian name Cyrus (http://www.biblical-baby-names.com/meaning-of-Cyril.html).
Cyril is an anglicized form of the Greek name 'Kyrillos'. The name in its Greek original was derived for common usage, from the word 'Kurios'. It was 'Kurios' that was used in the Greek Septugaint to translate the Hebrew word 'Adonai', which is the biblical title of 'my Lord', or 'Lord', given to YHWH, the God of Israel. This was done, since YHWH, was only written in Hebrew as a four letter tetragammation, and never spoken by observant Jews, whether they were Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek speaking. So, in its original texts, Kurios was used for the words God or Lord, by the writers of the New Testament. Kyrillos, in Greek (from which we get the Russian/Slavic Kirill) was used by the Byzantines and in the mediterranean. In the other ancient litugical languages of the Christian Church, it was translated as Coorilose or Kurilose in Syriac (Christianized Aramaic), and Cyrillus (from whence comes Cyril in English and Cyrille in French) in Latin. [noted -ed]
The 9th century linguist was not Greek. As the Greeks had alphabet and he was requested to develop a different alphabet for the illiterate Slavic people, so that they do not accept the religion through a foreign (Greek) language, but in their own language (and at the time, their language was only "mondial").Cyril was not Greek; his work was opposed by Greeks, the alphabet was not recognised by the Greeks. So he needed to get it veryfied by the highest religious authorities at the time - the Roman Pope :) On the way back to Macedonia, he died. Which is why he is STILL BURIED IN ROME. :)You're welcome :)
St. Cyril the Enlightener of the Slavs was a Greek, who helped create an alphabet for the Slavs. He was not a Slav, and you can look that up in almost any source to confirm it.
St. Cyril was a Macedonian, not a Greek and certainly not a Greek missionary to the Slavs! The Greeks opposed his work. He lived in Salonika (a Macedonian town during the 9th century) and that's where the "confusion" comes from.

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