Revision History

loadingDate    Editor    Change Summary
12/7/2022, 9:35 PM Mike C update #113
5/29/2020, 9:30 PM Mike C update #108
11/16/2019, 11:04 AM Mike C update #105
12/8/2017, 12:41 PM Mike C update #97
7/27/2015, 11:23 PM Mike C update #90
2/12/2007, 1:03 AM Mike C earliest recorded revision

Gender Masculine
Scripts Κῦρος(Ancient Greek) 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁(Old Persian)
Pronounced Pron. SIE-rəs(English)

Meaning & History

Latin form of Greek Κῦρος (Kyros), from the Old Persian name 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 (Kuruš), possibly meaning "young" or "humiliator (of the enemy)" [1]. Alternatively it could be of Elamite origin. The name has sometimes been associated with Greek κύριος (kyrios) meaning "lord".

The most notable bearer of the name was Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the 6th century BC. He is famous in the Old Testament for freeing the captive Jews and allowing them to return to Israel after his conquest of Babylon. As an English name, it first came into use among the Puritans after the Protestant Reformation.