Erivo's first name 📛Cynthia is of Greek origin meaning: "moon goddess or woman from Kynthos" and Nameberry proclaims it "an attractive name." A tidbit to consider: "Cynthia always qualifies as a nature name. Two-flowered cynthia is a yellow wildflower in the aster family."
Behind the Name says, "Cynthia was not used as a given name until the Renaissance, and it did not become common in the English-speaking world until the 19th century. It reached a peak of popularity in the United States in 1957 and has declined steadily since then." 📉 In 2024, Cynthia was #826 on the most Popular Baby Names for girls. 📍California and 📍South Carolina have the most women named Cynthia.
The rest of Erivo's six names are Nigerian. She shares the meaning of her names in a recent interview [▶0:50]:
Zach Sang: "Your real name is seven names altogether. It's beautiful."
Cynthia Erivo: "Thank you very much."
ZS: "I don't want to butcher... Please..."
CE: "I'll say it. So it's Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo. But there's a confirmation name Perpetua in there as well."
ZS: "Can you explain the origin of that and the history it's tied to?"
CE: "They're all Igbo Nigerian names. I really only know the translation for like two of them. Because maybe my memory is the worst. My mother gave me Chinasaokwu, it's God is always watching, as in taking care. And Onyedinmanasu is hard to translate exactly but it's like, you look forward, it doesn't matter what people are saying behind you cause you can't see it if you look forward that's the thing that matters."
You know your full name is a mouthful and truly something to behold when you don't even know all the meanings of them! 😅 Cynthia Erivo's names are all wonderful 👌🏾 (my favorite is 📛Perpetua) and it's great she's so proud of them all.
I like the name 📛Cynthia — even though it's a bit of a boring name (also the name of an old best friend of mine growing up and the name of an ex's mother once upon a time) honestly... but something about it makes it 🔊sound pretty to say (I like the 'Cyn' part of it best). 🤔
📛Cynthia can be considered a classic name for as long as it's been around (the 19th century) and it's still on the name charts (just under the top 1k names) so it has longevity. I disagree with Nameberry that its popularity has peaked. 👎🏾 In time, especially with Erivo's popularity peaking, I don't doubt that 📛Cynthia will be cemented on the name charts in the top 📈 500 popular baby girl names. ✨
📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Cynthia:
