Spiro (name)

Spiro is a surname with a variety of origins, as well as a given name among Greek-speaking populations, Albanians, and the Christians of Lebanon.

Origins

As a Greek name, Spiro may also be spelled Spyro. It comes from the ''Greek'' Spiros/Spyros/Speros ( gr, Σπύρος), with a nominative final "s" that is usually dropped when Anglicised. It is a male given name fairly common in Greek-speaking population (Greece especially in Corfu whose patron saint is Saint Spyridon, in Cyprus, Greek diaspora) as well as among the Christians of Lebanon where it is a common first and last name. It is a shortened form of the archaic-sounding Spyridon (Σπυρίδων), which means in ancient Greek "basket used to carry seeds" (Σπυρί, grain, seed). The Greek diminutives for Spirydon are Pipis (Πίπης ) and Pipeto (Πιπέτο).

Špiro is also a masculine given name in Croatia and Montenegro.

In Germany, the surname Spiro originated as a corruption of Speyer, the name of a town in the Rhineland. It is one of a number of Jewish surnames that originated this way, along with the better-known Shapiro.

Surname

People with the surname Spiro include:

*Alyson Spiro, British actress
* Betty Miller (née Spiro) (1910–1965), Irish author
*Bjørn Spiro (1909–1999), Danish film actor
*Ellen Spiro (b. 1964), American documentary filmmaker
*Eugene Spiro (1874–1972), German and American painter
*György Spiró (b. 1946), Hungarian dramatist, novelist and essayist
*Harold Spiro (1925–1996), English songwriter
* Herbert Spiro (1924–2010), German-born American political scientist
*Jordana Spiro (b. 1977), American actress
* Lev L. Spiro, American film and television director
*Karl Spiro (1867–1932), German biologist and physical chemist
* Mark Spiro, American songwriter, musician, and record producer
*Melford Spiro (1920–2014), American cultural anthropologist
*Michel Spiro, French physicist
*Peter Spiro, American legal scholar
*Samantha Spiro (b. 1968), British actor
*Samuel Spiro (d. 1814), Greek-born Argentine naval captain
**ARA Spiro (P-43), the corvette of the Argentine Navy named after Samuel Spiro
*Stephen Spiro (1939–2007), American political activist

Given name

Spiro

People with the given name Spiro include:

*Spiro Agnew (1918–1996), thirty-ninth vice president of the United States
*Spyro the Dragon
*Spiro Moisiu (1900-1981), Albanian general
*Spyros Gogolos, Greek footballer
* Spyros Kastanas, Cypriot footballer
*Spyros Kyprianou (1932–2002), former President of Cyprus
*Spiros Latsis, Greek businessman
*Spiros Livathinos (b. 1955), Greek football player, coach, and current head scout
*Spyridon Louis (1873–1940), Greek gold medallist of the first modern Olympic Marathon
** Spiros Louis Stadium, the Athens Olympic Stadium named after Louis

Spiros/Spyros

*Spiros Marangos, Greek footballer
*Spiros Markezinis (1909–2000), Greek politician
*Spyros Moustakas, Greek writer
*Spyros Paliouras, Greek writer
*Spyros B. Pavlides (1861–1917), Greek composer of the Olympic Anthem
* Paul Spyros Sarbanes (b. 1933), former US Senator representing Maryland
*Spyros Skouras (1893–1971), Greek-American chairman of Twentieth Century Fox from 1942 to 1962
*Spyros Spyromilios, Greek Gendarmerie officer
*Spyros Vallas (b. 1981), Greek football player
* Spiros Velentzas, American Greek Mob Boss
*Spiros Vondas, fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire''
*Spyros Vrettos, Greek poet
*Spiros Zodhiates, Greek-American author

Middle name

Spiro

* George Spiro Dibie (1932-2022), American cinematographer

See also

* Spirou
* Spira, a Jewish name sometimes also spelled "Spiro"
* Schapiro, Shapiro
* Schapira, Shapira
* Spire

References

{{Reflist

Greek masculine given names
Jewish surnames