Cynthia is a feminine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

origin: , , "from Mount

Cynthus Mount Cynthus (, ''Kýnthos'') is located on the isle of Delos, part of the Greek Cyclades. Mythology In Greek mythology, Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis on this island, having been shunned by Zeus' wife Hera who was extremely jealous of ...

" on Delos island. The name has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 1600s. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to Cindy, Cyndi, Cyndy, or occasionally to Thea or Thia. Cynthia was originally an epithet of the Greek goddess

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

, who according to legend was born on Mount Cynthus.

Selene In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of ...

, the Greek personification of the moon, and the Roman Diana were also sometimes called "Cynthia".

Usage

It has ranked among the 1,000 most used names for girls in the United States since 1880 and among the top 100 names between 1945 and 1993. It peaked in usage between 1956 and 1963, when it was among the 10 most popular names for American girls. It has since declined in use in the United States and ranked in 806th position on the popularity chart there in 2021. It was also among the top 100 names in use for girls in Canada between 1949 and 1978, among the top 100 names in use for girls in the United Kingdom between 1934 and 1944 among the top 500 names in France for girls between 1970 and 2008, and among the top 500 names in Spain between 1980 and 2010.

People

Cynthia Bailey Cynthia Denise Bailey (born February 19, 1967) is an American model, reality television personality, and actress. Born and raised in Alabama, she moved to New York City at the age of 18 to pursue a modeling career. There, she signed a five-year ...

(born 1967), American model, actress, and TV personality *Cynthia or Cindy Bishop (born 1978), Thai model, actress, TV personality, and entrepreneur *Cynthia or

Cindy Bremser Cynthia ("Cindy") Mae Bremser–Whitmore (born May 5, 1953, in Milwaukee) is a retired middle distance runner from the United States. She finished fourth in the 3,000 metres at the 1984 Summer Olympics. She won the silver medal in the 1,500 metre ...

(born 1953), American runner *

Cynthia Clark Cynthia Zang Facer Clark (born April 1, 1942) is an American statistician known for her work improving the quality of data in the Federal Statistical System of the United States, and especially in the National Agricultural Statistics Service. ...

(born 1942), American statistician * Cynthia Coffman (born 1962), American murderer * Cintia Dicker (born 1986), Brazilian model * Cynthia Dobrinski (born 1950), handbell composer * Cynthia Joan Gastelle (1961–1980), formerly unidentified American murder victim *

Cynthia Germanotta Cynthia Louise Germanotta (née Bissett; born August 30, 1954) is an American philanthropist, activist and entrepreneur. She is the president of the Born This Way Foundation, which she co-founded with her daughter Lady Gaga in 2012. Early lif ...

(born 1954), American philanthropist *

Cynthia Gibb Cynthia Gibb (born December 14, 1963) is an American actress and former model who has starred in film and on television. She began her career as a cast member on the musical television drama '' Fame'', based on the movie of the same name. She ...

(born 1963), American actress *

Cynthia Glassman Dr. Cynthia Aaron Glassman of Alexandria, Virginia was a commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs. She served as acting chair from July 1, 2005 to August 3, 2005. She ...

, American economist *

Cynthia Gregory Cynthia Kathleen Gregory (born July 8, 1946) is an American former prima ballerina. Career Born in Los Angeles, Gregory took up dancing when she was five, with the encouragement of her parents, who hoped exercise would stem her history of childho ...

(born 1946), American ballet dancer *Cynthia or

Cindy Greiner Cynthia Greiner (née Suggs, born February 15, 1957, in San Diego, California) is a retired female heptathlete and long jumper from the United States, who won the gold medal at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, United States. She is a ...

(born 1957), American heptathlete and long jumper *

Cynthia Harvey Cynthia Harvey (born May 17, 1957) is an American former ballet dancer, ballet mistress and educator. She joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in 1974 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1982. In 1986, she joined The Royal Ballet, beco ...

, American ballet dancer and educator *

Cynthia Herrup Cynthia Herrup is an American historian of early modern British law who holds the position of Professor of History and Law at the University of Southern California. Herrup's writings center primarily on the social history of criminal law, but sh ...

, American law historian * Cynthia Hotton (born 1969), Argentine politician * Cynthia Kenyon, American molecular biologist * Cynthia Tse Kimberlin, American ethnomusicologist * Cynthia Klitbo (born 1967), Mexican actress *

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

(born 1953), American musician and LGBT rights activist * Cynthia Ling Lee, American dancer and choreographer *

Cynthia Lennon Cynthia Lennon (born Powell; 10 September 1939 – 1 April 2015) was the first wife of John Lennon and the mother of Julian Lennon. Born in Blackpool and raised in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, she attended the Liverpool College of Art wher ...

(1939–2015), first wife of musician John Lennon * Cynthia McKinney (born 1955), American politician *Cynthia, Christian name of

Saori Minami (Real Name: Akemi Shinoyama (篠山明美), née, Akemi Uchima (内間明美); Christian Name: Cynthia) is a Japanese retired J-pop singer-songwriter. She was born in Okinawa on July 2, 1954. In the 1970s, and for a brief 6 years from 19911997 ...

(born 1954), Japanese singer * Lady Cynthia Mosley (1898–1933), British politician *

Cynthia Nilson Cynthia Sara Nilson (born August 22, 1970), also known as Cynthia Nilson, is an Argentine pop singer and songwriter. Career She began singing professionally with her father Carlos Nilson in several songs for Argentine television shows like '' ...

, Argentinian singer and songwriter *

Cynthia Nixon Cynthia Ellen Nixon (born April 9, 1966) is an American actress, activist, and theater director. For her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), she won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supp ...

(born 1966), American actress *

Cynthia Olavarría Cynthia Enid Olavarría Rivera (born January 28, 1982 in Santurce) is a Puerto Rican actress, fashion model, TV host and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2005 and placed 1st Runner-Up at Miss Universe 2005. Biogr ...

(born 1982), Puerto Rican model *

Cynthia Ortega Cynthia Apolonia Ortega-Martijn (born 9 February 1956 in Willemstad, Curaçao) is a former Netherlands, Dutch politician. As a member of the ChristianUnion (ChristenUnie) she was an MP from November 30, 2006, to September 19, 2012. She focused ...

(born 1956), Dutch politician *

Cynthia Ozick Cynthia Ozick (born April 17, 1928) is an American short story writer, novelist, and essayist. Biography Cynthia Ozick was born in New York City, the second of two children. She moved to the Bronx with her Belarusian-Jewish parents from Hlusk, ...

(born 1928), American writer *

Cynthia Richards Cynthia Richards (born Sinthia Richards, 1944) is a Jamaican singer whose career began in the 1960s. Biography Born in Duhaney Park, Kingston, Jamaica, in 1944, Richards attended the Denham Town Primary School where after impressing teachers wi ...

(born 1944), Jamaican singer * Cynthia Dawn Ritchie, an American origin, socialite and blogger involved in Pakistani affairs * Cynthia Deyanira Rodríguez Ruiz (born 1984), Mexican reality TV personality *

Cynthia Rothrock Cynthia is a feminine given name of Greek origin: , , "from Mount Cynthus" on Delos island. The name has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 1600s. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to Cindy, Cyndi, Cynd ...

(born 1957), American martial artist and actress *

Cynthia Rowley Cynthia Rowley (born July 29, 1958) is an American fashion designer based in the Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Early life and education Rowley is a native of Barrington, Illinois a northwestern suburb of Chicago. She is one of three ...

, American fashion designer * Cynthia Rudin (born 1976), American computer scientist and statistician * Cynthia Ryder (born 1966), American rower *

Cynthia Morgan St. John Cynthia Morgan St. John (, Morgan; October 11, 1852 – August 10, 1919) was an American Wordsworthian, book collector, and author. In her day, she owned the largest and most valuable Wordsworth library in the U.S. she was engaged in collecting ...

(1852-1919), American Wordsworthian, book collector, and author *

Amy Elizabeth Thorpe Amy Elizabeth Thorpe, also known as Betty Pack, Betty Thorpe, Elizabeth Pack, and Amy Brousse; (November 22, 1910 – December 1, 1963) was an American spy, codenamed Cynthia, who worked for British Security Coordination (BSC) which was set up in ...

(1910–1963), an American spy codenamed "Cynthia" *

Cynthia Cynthia is a feminine given name of Greek origin: , , "from Mount Cynthus" on Delos island. The name has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 1600s. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to Cindy, Cyndi, Cyndy, ...

(Torres), American freestyle singer *

Cynthia Valdez Cynthia Yazmín Valdez Pérez (born December 11, 1987) is an individual Mexican rhythmic gymnast born in Guadalajara who has won 10 Pan American Games medals—two gold, four silver and four bronze medals. Career She won a bronze medal i ...

(born 1987), Mexican rhythmic gymnast *

Cynthia Villar Cynthia Aguilar Villar (, born Cynthia Ampaya Aguilar on July 29, 1950) is a Filipina politician currently serving as a Senator of the Philippines. She was a member of the House of Representatives for the Lone District of Las Piñas from 2001 t ...

(born 1950), Filipino politician *

Cynthia Watros Cynthia Michele Watros (born September 2, 1968) is an American actress recognized for her roles in both daytime and primetime television. In 1994, she was cast in the regular role of Annie Dutton on ''Guiding Light'', which earned her the Day ...

(born 1968), American actress * Cynthia Weil (born 1940), American songwriter *Cynthia Wesley (1949-1963), a victim of the 1963

16th Street Baptist Church bombing The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a white supremacist terrorist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, September 15, 1963. Four members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter planted 19 sticks of dynami ...

* Cynthia Woodhead (born 1964), American athlete

Fictional characters

* ''Cynthia, with certain Sonnets, and the legend of Cassandra'', panegyric by

Richard Barnfield Richard Barnfield (baptized 29 June 1574 – 1620) was an English poet. His obscure though close relationship with William Shakespeare has long made him interesting to scholars. It has been suggested that he was the "rival poet" mentioned in ...

(1574–1620) * ''

Cynthia’s Revels ''Cynthia's Revels, or The Fountain of Self-Love'' is a late English literature#Elizabethan era, Elizabethan stage play, a satire written by Ben Jonson. The play was one element in the ''Poetomachia'' or War of the Theatres between Jonson and ri ...

'', play by

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

(1572–1637) * Cynthia, Angelica's doll on the cartoon ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently— Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, a ...

'' * Sinthia Schmidt, a.k.a.

Sin (Marvel Comics) Sin (Sinthea Shmidt) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is the daughter of the Red Skull and an enemy of Captain America. Publication history Sin first appeared in ''Captain America'' ...

, comic book supervillainess *

, a plaster mannequin of the 1930s created by Lester Gaba. *

, a diclonius and one of four clones of Mariko in the manga "

Elfen Lied is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's '' Weekly Young Jump'' from June 2002 to August 2005, with the 107 chapters collected into twelve ''tankōbon'' volumes. ''Elfen ...

" * Cynthia, the champion of the Sinnoh region in the '' Pokémon'' video games. * Cynthia, a character in ''

Fire Emblem Awakening ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It was released in April 2012 in Japan and 2013 internationally. It is the thirteenth ...

'' * Cynthia Lamonde, a major character in the book "Praise" by Andrew McGahan * Cynthia Mitchell, antagonist in ''

Lucky Stiff ''Lucky Stiff'' is a musical farce. It was the first collaboration for the team of Lynn Ahrens (book and lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty (music). The show is based on the 1983 novel ''The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo'' by Michael Butt ...

'' played by Donna Dixon * Cynthia, a central character in the poetry of Propertius * Cynthia Kirkpatrick, a character in ''

Wives and Daughters ''Wives and Daughters, An Every-Day Story'' is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in the ''Cornhill Magazine'' as a serial from August 1864 to January 1866. It was partly written whilst Gaskell was staying with the salon hostess M ...

'' by Elizabeth Gaskell

Notes

References

* Pannen, Imke, ''When the Bad Bleeds: Mantic Elements in English Renaissance Revenge Tragedy''. Volume 3 of Representations & Reflections; V&R unipress GmbH, 2010. {{given name Feminine given names English feminine given names Arabic feminine given names Spanish feminine given names Dutch feminine given names Epithets of Artemis Portuguese feminine given names ja:シンシア pt:Cynthia sl:Hijacinta

Usage

People

Fictional characters

See also

Notes

References