Cyrus
| Pronunciation | /ˈsaɪərəs/ |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Persian |
| Meaning | "Sun", "One who bestows care" |
| Other names | |
| Related names | Kourosh, Kurush, Koresh, Ciro |
Cyrus (
Persian kings. Most notably it refers to Cyrus the Great (c. 600–530 BC). Cyrus is also the name of Cyrus I of Anshan (c. 650 BC), King of Persia and the grandfather of Cyrus the Great; and Cyrus the Younger (died 401 BC), brother to the Persian king Artaxerxes II of Persia
.
Etymology
Cyrus, as a word in English, is the
Elamite Kuraš, Babylonian Ku(r)-raš/-ra-áš and Imperial Aramaic kwrš. The modern Persian form of the name is Kūroš
.
The etymology of Cyrus has been and continues to be a topic of discussion amongst
Iranology
. The Old Persian name "kuruš" has been interpreted in various forms such as "the Sun", "like Sun", "young", "hero," and "humiliator of the enemy in verbal contest" and the Elamite "kuraš" has been translated as one "who bestows care".
The name has appeared on many monuments and inscriptions in Old Persian.
There are interpretations of the name of Cyrus by classical authors identifying with or referring to the Persian word for "Sun". The Historian
Artaxerxes II of Persia writes in his book Persica as summarized by Photios that the name Cyrus is from the Persian word "Khur" (the sun).[9] These are, however, not accepted by modern scholars.[1]
Regarding the etymology of Old Persian kuruš, linguists have proposed various etymologies based on Iranian languages as well as non-
Karl Hoffmann that kuruš goes down to a -ru derivation from the IE root *(s)kau meaning "to humiliate"[10] and accordingly "kuruš" (hence "Cyrus") means "humiliator (of the enemy in verbal contest)".[1]
People and fictional characters named Cyrus include:
People
Given name
Ancient world
- Cyrus I (c. 650 BC), King of Anshan
- Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC) – also known as Cyrus II – the grandson of Cyrus I, an Achaemenid ruler and founder of the Great Persian Empire
- Cyrus the Younger (died 401 BC), brother to the Persian King Artaxerxes
- Cyrus (architect), 1st century Greek architect who worked in Rome
- Saint Cyrus (see Cyrus and John), 4th century Coptic saint
- Cyrus I of Edessa, bishop (died 396)
- Cyrus II of Edessa, bishop (died 498)
- Cyrus of Alexandria (died 642), Melkite Patriarch and co-founder of Monothelism
- Cyrus of Panopolis, 5th-century Byzantine writer and official
Modern era
- Cyrus Leroy Baldridge (1889–1977), American artist, illustrator, author and adventurer
- Cyrus Townsend Brady (1861–1920), American journalist, historian and adventure writer
- Cyrus Broacha (born 1971), MTV India VJ
- Cyrus Ramone Pattinson (born 1994), Team GB Boxer
- Cyrus Christie (born 1992), professional footballer who plays as right back for Hull City A.F.C
- Cyrus Chothia (1942–2019), British scientist
- Cyrus Edwin Dallin (1861–1944), American sculptor
- Cyrus S. Eaton (1883–1979), Canadian-American banker, investor and philanthropist
- Cyrus Edwards (1793–1877), American politician and lawyer
- Cyrus West Field(1819–1892), American businessman who successfully laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable
- Cyrus Frisch (born 1969), Dutch film director
- Cyrus Herzl Gordon(1908–2001) was an American scholar of Near Eastern cultures and ancient languages
- Cyrus Hamlin (general) (1839–1867), Union general during American Civil War, son of Vice President Hannibal Hamlin
- Cy Hungerford (1889–1983), American editorial cartoonist
- Cyrus Kabiru (born 1984), Kenyan visual artist
- Cy Kendall (1898–1953), American actor
- Cyrus B. Lower (1843–1924), American Civil War Medal of Honor recipient
- Cyrus McCormick (1809–1884), American inventor who developed the modern mechanical reaper
- Cyrus Pallonji Mistry(born 1968), Irish-Indian businessman and Chairman of Indian conglomerate Tata Group
- Cyrus Mistry (writer) (born 1956), Indian author and playwright
- Cyrus Patell (born 1961), American literary and cultural critic
- Cyrus Peirce (1790–1860), founder of first public normal school (teachers' college) in the United States
- Cyrus Poncha (born 1976), national squash coach in India
- Cyrus S. Poonawalla (fl. 1966–present), Indian businessman
- Cyrus Rollocks (born 1998), Canadian soccer player
- Cyrus Sahukar (born 1980), MTV India VJ
- C. R. Smith (1899–1990), longtime CEO of American Airlines
- U.S. Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter
- Cyrus Vance Jr. (born 1954), American politician and lawyer, son of Cyrus Sr. and former Manhattan District Attorney (2010–2021)
- Cyrus Villanueva, Australian singer who won The X Factor Australia in 2015
In literature
- The Garden of Cyrus, a discourse by the English physician-philosopher Thomas Browne
Fictional characters
- Cyrus, from The Revenge of Magic book series by James Riely
- Cyrus Beene, from the television series Scandal
- Cyrus Trask, from John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden
- Cyrus Borg, a character in Ninjago
- Cyrus Bortel, from the animated TV series Kim Possible
- Cyrus Goodman, from Andi Mack and Disney Channel's first gay main character
- Cyrus Lupo, a detective from Law & Order
- Cyrus Simpson, the brother of Abraham Simpson in The Simpsons
- Cyrus, from the TV series Trailer Park Boys
- Cyrus, from the animated series Sonic Underground
- Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, in the 1997 film Con Air, played by John Malkovich
- Cyrus, a gang leader in the 1979 film The Warriors
- Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic and the main antagonist of Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum
- Cyrus Gold, the DC Comics character Solomon Grundy
- Mysterious Island
- Cyrus, a vampaneze from the novel The Vampire Princeby Darren Shan
- Cyrus (Chrono Trigger), in the video game Chrono Trigger
- Cyrus, a Redguard pirate and hero in the video game The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard
- Cyrus Albright, one of the 8 main protagonists of the video game Octopath Traveler
- Cyrus, an NPC in the video game Genshin Impact
- Cyrus, an alpaca NPC introduced in Animal Crossing: New Leaf
See also
Citations
- ^ a b c d (Schmitt 1996a)
- ^ (Gershevitch 1985, pp. 392–5)
- ^ (Tolman 1908, p. 55)
- ^ (Tolman 1908, p. 82)
- ^ (Gershevitch 1985, p. 395)
- ^ (Ghirshman 1965, p. 246)
- ^ (Schmitt 1996b)
- ^ Plutarch, Artoxerxes in (Parallel lives)
- ^ Epitome of Ctesias' Persica 52 Archived 2016-11-23 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c d (Tavernier 2007, p. 528)
- ^ (Harmatta 1971, pp. 5–6)
General and cited references
- S2CID 162253058
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 6, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 515–16[permanent dead link]
- Schmitt, Rüdiger (1996b), "Cyrus vi. Cyrus the Younger", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 6, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, p. 518[permanent dead link]
- Tavernier, Jan (2007), Iranica in the Achaemenid Period (ca. 550-330 B.C.): Linguistic Study of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords, Attested in Non-Iranian Texts, Peeters Publishers, ISBN 978-90-429-1833-7
- Tolman, Herbert Cushing (1908), Ancient Persian Lexicon, American Book Company, ISBN 978-0-7905-2613-3
- Gershevitch, Ilya (1985), ISBN 978-0-521-20091-2
- Harmatta, János(1971), "The Rise of the Old Persian Empire — Cyrus the Great", Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 19: 1–15
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