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 fa ...

of Greek 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 hi ...

" on

Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...

island. The name has been in use in the

Anglosphere The Anglosphere is a group of English-speaking world, English-speaking nations that share historical and cultural ties with England, and which today maintain close political, diplomatic and military co-operation. While the nations included in d ...

since the 1600s. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to

Cindy Cindy may refer to: People *Cindy (given name), a list of people named Cindy, Cindi, Cyndi or Cyndy *Tugiyati Cindy (born 1985), Indonesian footballer Music * ''Cindy'' (musical), an off-Broadway production in 1964 and 1965 * "Cindy" (folk song ...

, Cyndi, Cyndy, or occasionally to

Thea Thea may refer to: * Thea (name), a given name * Ancient Greek term for goddess, including an alternative spelling of Theia * ''Thea'', the former name of the tea plant genus, now included in ''Camellia'' * Thea, a village in the municipal unit Me ...

or Thia. Cynthia was originally an

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

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, 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 (born 1967), American model, actress, and TV personality *Cynthia or

Cindy Bishop Cynthia Carmen Burbridge-Bishop ( th, ซินเธีย คาร์เมน เบอร์บริดจ์-บิชอพ; born December 30, 1978) or Sirinya Burbridge ( th, สิรินยา เบอร์บริดจ์), is ...

(born 1978), Thai model, actress, TV personality, and entrepreneur *Cynthia or Cindy Bremser (born 1953), American runner * Cynthia Clark (born 1942), American statistician * Cynthia Coffman (born 1962), American murderer *

Cintia Dicker Cintia Schneider Dick (born 6 December 1986), known as Cintia Dicker, is a Brazilian model and actress. Career She has appeared in advertisements for Ann Taylor, Macy's, L'Oréal, American Eagle Outfitters, Tom Ford, Wildfox Couture, and Yve ...

(born 1986), Brazilian model *

Cynthia Dobrinski Cynthia Dobrinski (1950 – October 12, 2021) was an American composer and arranger of handbell music. She has more than 175 works in print. She also worked as an instructor and conducted about 350 handbell workshops and festivals internationally ...

(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 (born 1963), American actress * Cynthia Glassman, American economist * Cynthia Gregory (born 1946), American ballet dancer *Cynthia or Cindy Greiner (born 1957), American heptathlete and long jumper * Cynthia Harvey, 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 she ...

, American law historian *

Cynthia Hotton Cynthia Hotton (born 17 January 1969) is an Argentine politician, former National Deputy and candidate for Vice President. Early life Cynthia Hotton was born on 17 January 1969 in Buenos Aires to Arturo Hotton Risler, whose parents had emigrat ...

(born 1969), Argentine politician *

Cynthia Kenyon Cynthia Jane Kenyon (born February 21, 1954) is an American molecular biologist and biogerontologist known for her genetic dissection of aging in a widely used model organism, the roundworm ''Caenorhabditis elegans''. She is the vice president of ...

, American molecular biologist *

Cynthia Tse Kimberlin Cynthia Tse Kimberlin (born Cynthia Mei-Ling Tse in Ganado, Arizona, United States; Chinese name: 謝美玲; pinyin: Xiè Měilíng; Cantonese: Tse6 Mei5ling4) is an American ethnomusicologist. She is the executive director and publisher of ...

, American ethnomusicologist *

Cynthia Klitbo Cynthia Klitbo (; born March 11, 1967) is a Mexican actress of telenovelas, theater and Mexican cinema. She is best known for her roles as Laura in Televisa's telenovela La Dueña (Mexico) (1995), as Tamara de Duval in Televisa's telenovela El p ...

(born 1967), Mexican actress * Cyndi Lauper (born 1953), American musician and LGBT rights activist *

Cynthia Ling Lee Cynthia Ling Lee is an American dancer, choreographer, and scholar. She performs in contemporary, postmodern, and classical Indian dance techniques. Her research focuses on queer and postcolonial experiences in Asian diasporic performance. Biogra ...

, American dancer and choreographer * Cynthia Lennon (1939–2015), first wife of musician John Lennon *

Cynthia McKinney Cynthia Ann McKinney (born March 17, 1955) is an American politician, academic, and conspiracy theorist. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first African American ...

(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); Religious name, Christian Name: Cynthia) is a Japanese retired J-pop singer-songwriter. She was born in United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands, Oki ...

(born 1954), Japanese singer *

Lady Cynthia Mosley Lady Cynthia Blanche Mosley (née Curzon; 23 August 1898 – 16 May 1933), nicknamed "Cimmie", was a British politician of Anglo-American parentage and the first wife of the British Fascist, New Party, Labour and Conservative politician Sir ...

(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 ''Ri ...

, Argentinian singer and songwriter * Cynthia Nixon (born 1966), American actress *

Cynthia Olavarría Cynthia Enid Olavarría Rivera (born January 28, 1982 in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Santurce) is a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican actress, fashion model, TV host and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2005 and placed ...

(born 1982), Puerto Rican model * Cynthia Ortega (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 (born 1944), Jamaican singer * Cynthia Dawn Ritchie, an American origin, socialite and blogger involved in Pakistani affairs *

Cynthia Deyanira Rodríguez Ruiz Cynthia is a feminine given name of Greek language, 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 ...

(born 1984), Mexican reality TV personality * Cynthia Rothrock (born 1957), American martial artist and actress * Cynthia Rowley, American fashion designer *

Cynthia Rudin Cynthia Diane Rudin (born 1976) is an American computer scientist and statistician specializing in machine learning and known for her work in interpretable machine learning. She is the director of the Interpretable Machine Learning Lab at Duke ...

(born 1976), American computer scientist and statistician *

Cynthia Ryder Cynthia Louise "Cindy" Ryder (born August 12, 1966) is an American Olympic athlete who won the gold medal in women's single sculls rowing event at the 1991 Pan American Games and participated in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona Barcelona ( ...

(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 in t ...

(born 1987), Mexican rhythmic gymnast * Cynthia Villar (born 1950), Filipino politician * Cynthia Watros (born 1968), American actress *

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

(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 dynam ...

Cynthia Woodhead Cynthia Lee Woodhead (born February 7, 1964), commonly known by her family nickname "Sippy", is an American former competition swimmer, world champion, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. She won three gold medals at the 1978 Worl ...

(born 1964), American athlete

Fictional characters

* ''Cynthia, with certain Sonnets, and the legend of Cassandra'', panegyric by Richard Barnfield (1574–1620) * ''

Cynthia’s Revels ''Cynthia's Revels, or The Fountain of Self-Love'' is a late 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 rival playwrights John Marston and T ...

'', 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'' * 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" * Cynthia, the champion of the Sinnoh region in the ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

'' video games. * Cynthia, a character in '' Fire Emblem Awakening'' * 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 Butterwo ...

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

Propertius Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium and died shortly after 15 BC. Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of ''Elegies'' ('). He was a friend of the poets Gallus a ...

* Cynthia Kirkpatrick, a character in '' Wives and Daughters'' 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