Cynthia
Cynthia was the 1014th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 247 babies. Its best year was 1957, when it ranked 7th with 39,340 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 474 places. More babies were named Cynthia in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Meaning woman of Mount Cynthus (Artemis) · Greek, Latin
Say it SIN-thee-uh /ˈsɪnθiə/
- Rank in 2025
- #1,014 girls, down 141 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 247girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 195739,340 babies
- Total since 1880
- 713,412babies recorded
What does the name Cynthia mean?
Cynthia comes from Greek Kynthia, an epithet of the goddess Artemis, meaning 'of Kynthos', the mountain on the island of Delos where she and her brother Apollo were said to have been born. Roman poets used Cynthia as a name for the moon goddess and for the moon itself, and English poets of the 16th and 17th centuries applied it to Queen Elizabeth I. It became a common American given name in the mid-20th century.
Κυνθία (Kynthía) (Ancient Greek, “of Mount Kynthos (epithet of Artemis)”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Cindy, Cinthia, Kynthia.
See also: Greek names, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Cynthia', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Wiktionary, entry 'Cynthius', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
Nicknames for Cynthia
The usual nicknames for Cynthia are Cindy and Cyn. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Cynthia in the last five years, 37 were named Cindy, against 66 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cindy · also for Lucinda | Traditional | #1,929 | 569 |
| Cyn | Modern | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Cynthias go by each one.
Cynthia popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 1,959 since 1933.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,014 | 247 |
| 2020 | #873 | 308 |
| 2010 | #381 | 835 |
| 2000 | #164 | 2,038 |
| 1990 | #88 | 3,797 |
| 1980 | #64 | 4,700 |
| 1970 | #25 | 12,913 |
| 1960 | #9 | 26,706 |
| 1950 | #23 | 14,447 |
| 1940 | #133 | 1,882 |
| 1930 | #256 | 596 |
| 1920 | #388 | 285 |
| 1910 | #428 | 86 |
| 1900 | #360 | 87 |
| 1890 | #282 | 79 |
| 1880 | #197 | 61 |
How popular is Cynthia, counting every spelling?
Cynthia is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #924 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #1,014 for Cynthia on its own. Together these spellings went to 267 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cynthia | 247 | #1,014 | 1,547 |
| Cinthia | 13 | #7,976 | 111 |
| Synthia | 7 | #13,047 | 39 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Cynthia?
247 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Cynthia (0.07 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Cynthia born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 34 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Cynthia.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Cynthia?
About 587,000 people born in the US named Cynthia are alive today, with a median age of 64; half are between 55 and 70. That makes Cynthia a name most people associate with older generations.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Cynthia by state
How common Cynthia was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Wisconsin (2.0×), Oregon (1.8×), Kentucky (1.7×). In 17 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Cynthia: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Cynthia, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Cynthia · Sibling names for Cynthia
Questions about the name Cynthia
What does Cynthia mean?
Cynthia means “woman of Mount Cynthus (Artemis)” (Greek, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Cynthia?
Cynthia was the 1014th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 247 babies. Its best year was 1957, when it ranked 7th with 39,340 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 474 places. More babies were named Cynthia in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Is Cynthia a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Cynthia in the US.
Where is Cynthia most popular?
In 2021–2025, Cynthia was most common in Wisconsin (0.38 per 1,000 girls), followed by Oregon and Kentucky.