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 [ 3 syll. cyn-(t)hia, cy-nth-ia ] The girl name Cynthia is pronounced as SIHNTHiyah KEY. Cynthia is primarily used in English and German. It is of Old Greek origin. The name Cynthia means woman from Kynthos. An original form of the name is Kynthia (Old Greek). The name Kynthia was borne in Greek mythology as an epithet of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon and of hunting; she was supposed to have been born on Mount Kynthos on the island of Delos in the Aegean Sea. The place name is ultimately of pre-Greek origin. In literature, it first appeared as the name of the woman to which the love poetry of the 1st-century Roman poet Propertius was addressed. The English given name was however not used in the medieval period; it was first adopted by English speakers during the classical revival from the late 16th to the 18th centuries, where it commonly appeared in literature as the poetical reference for Elizabeth I as used by Edmund Spenser, Ben Jonson, and other famed writers. Cynthia has 27 forms that are used in both English and other languages. English forms of Cynthia include Cindie, Cinta (used in Spanish as well), Cintha, Cinthie, Cinthyia, Cyndie, Cynth, Cyntha, Cynthie, Cythia, Lacyndora, Sindia, Sinthia, Syndia, and Syntha. Other English forms include the pet forms Cindi, Cindy, Cyndee, and Cyndi, and the spelling variants Cinthya, Cynthea, and Synthia. Forms of the name used in other languages include the Portuguese Cintia, the Italian Cinzia, the Portuguese Cíntia, and the Greek Kynthia. The spelling variant Cinthia (Portuguese) is another foreign form. Cynthia is a classic favorite. Currently it is still rather popular as a baby girl name, but not as much as it was in the past. The name grew in popularity from the 1900s up to the 1950s. Its usage peaked in 1957 with 1.874% of baby girls being named Cynthia. It had a ranking of #7 then. The baby name has substantially dropped in popularity since then. In 2008, its usage was only 0.052% and its ranking #310, but it was nevertheless the most popular among all girl names in its family. In 2008, Cynthia was 47% more regularly used than the next ranked name, the English and Dutch Cindy. The name Cynthia has mainly been a girl name, though it has also been given to boys in the last century. There were 298 times more girls than boys who were named Cynthia in 1967. Baby names that sound like Cynthia include the Portuguese Cinthia, the English Cynthea, the English Sinthia, the English Synthia, the English, French, and German Samanta, the English, French, and German Samantha, the English Samanthi, the English Samatha, the English Sammantha, the Indian Sananda, the Spanish Segunda, the English Shanita, the English Shantay, the English Shawanda, the English Shenita, the French Simonette, the English Sindia, the Irish Sinead, the Irish Sinéad, and the English Sonida. A famous person named Cynthia is Actress, Cynthia Nixon, born 9 April 1966, New York, New York. KEY: Pronunciation for Cynthia: S as in "sea (S.IY)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; TH as in "theta (TH.EY.T.AH)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"   |
