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Cy

#2,540 in 2025Boys' name

Short form of Cyrus

Cy has been given to 3,921 babies in the U.S. since 1902. In 2025 it ranked #2,540 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2010, with 117 recorded.

Babies named Cy, 2025

1 in 63,800

Cy over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Cy: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Cyrus

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Cy means

Cy is a short form of Cyrus.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Cy → Cyrus. The family’s proposed meaning is “young or humiliator (of the enemy)”, recorded in the naming reference for Cyrus.

Origin, language, and formation

Cy is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Cyrus and Cyril.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Cy is pronounced /saɪ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,898 boys were recorded with the name Cy between 1902 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 117 in 2010; its best national rank was #1,036 in 1902.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,144 in 2020 to #2,540 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,215 in 2015 to #2,540 in 2025.

In the United States, 23 girls were recorded with the name Cy between 1999 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 7 in 2023; its best national rank was #12,425 in 2023.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Cy?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 63,800
52 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 32,800
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,540
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
44,191 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Cy sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 44,191 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cy. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Cys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cy was born before 2001 — so the typical Cy is around 24 today.

Median birth year
2001
About 24 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
22.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
50.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
3,604
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 22.9% of all recorded uses (892).

Is Cy rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−189
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−396
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−325
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.85×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
44.4%
Peak was 2010 (117)
Years since peak
15
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
16.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,036
1902

Where Cy is used

Across 1910–2025, Cy was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 12,500 boys, against 1 in 116,278 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in —).

08 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 12,500
  2. 2Utah1 in 33,333
  3. 3California1 in 50,000
  4. 4Louisiana1 in 50,000
  5. 5Texas1 in 50,000
  6. 6Arizona1 in 100,000
  7. 7Colorado1 in 100,000
  8. 8Kansas1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Cy has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Cy around the world

Where Cy ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2024
    #5,120
    in 2024
  • Canada
    2005–2024
    #3,231
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1964–2007
    #680
    in 2007

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Cy

People whose public names include Cy, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Cy by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,540
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 396
Best rank ever
#1,036
1902
Peak year
2010
117 that year
First recorded
1902
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,898
Count in 2025
52

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#12,425
2023
Peak year
2023
7 that year
First recorded
1999
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
23
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Cy

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

CyleCyrilCylasCylusCyanDarcyYancyCylerKacyCyrusCylisLacyLucyLegacyCyrisCypressNancyStacyClancyCylanCyrieCyreePercyCyprus

Names with a curve like Cy

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Cy, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

MarkoKonradObedPatricioNateJobAlenAmmonZachPaoloEbenAndrei

Sibling names for Cy

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Cy

Top names of 2010, Cy's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1902Boys' names starting with C