Spiro is a given name among Greek-speaking populations,

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

, and the Christians of Lebanon. It also is a surname with a variety of origins.

As a name

As a

Greek name In the modern world, Greek names are the personal names among people of Greek language and Greek culture, culture, generally consisting of a given name and a family name. History Ancient Greek personal names, Ancient Greeks generally had a sin ...

, Spiro may also be spelled Spyro. It comes from the ''Greek'' Spiros/Spyros/Speros (, ), a shortened form of the archaic-sounding Spyridon (, ), which means "basket used to carry seeds" (from ''σπυρί'', grain, seed) in

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

. It has a

nominative In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...

final "s" that is usually dropped when Anglicised. Spiros/Spyros is a male

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 f ...

fairly common in Greek-speaking population (in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, especially in

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

, whose patron saint is

Saint Spyridon Spyridon, also Spyridon of Tremithus (Greek: ; c. 270 – 348), is a saint honoured in both the Eastern and Western Christian traditions. Life Spyridon was born in Assia, in Cyprus. He worked as a shepherd and was known for his great piety. ...

, in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and among the

Greek diaspora The Greek diaspora, also known as Omogenia (), are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus. Such places historically (dating to the ancient period) include, Greeks in Albania, Albania, Greeks in North Macedonia, North Maced ...

) as well as among the Christians of

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

where it is a common first and last name. The Greek diminutives for Spirydon are Pipis (Πίπης) and Pipeto (Πιπέτο). Špiro is also a masculine given name in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

Spiro

People with the

''Spiro'' include: *

Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (; November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second of two vice presidents to resign, the first being John C. ...

(1918–1996), thirty-ninth vice president of the United States * Spiro Moisiu (1900–1981), Albanian general * Spiro Malas (1933–2019), Greek-American actor * Spiro Malakellis (born 1968), Australian rules footballer of Greek descent

Spiros/Spyros

People with the given name ''Spiros'' include: * Spyridon Louis (1873–1940), Greek gold medallist of the first modern Olympic Marathon ** Spiros Louis Stadium, the Athens Olympic Stadium named after Louis * Spiros Marangos (born 1967), Greek footballer * Spiros Markezinis (1909–2000), Greek politician * Spyros Moustakas (1914–2002), Greek writer * Spyros Paliouras (1875–1957), Greek writer * Spyros B. Pavlides, Greek geologist * Spyros Samaras (1861–1917), Greek composer of the Olympic Anthem *

Spyros Skouras Spyros Panagiotis Skouras (; ; March 28, 1893 – August 16, 1971) was a Greek-American motion picture pioneer and film executive who was the president of 20th Century-Fox from 1942 to 1962. He resigned June 27, 1962, but was chairman of the comp ...

(1893–1971), Greek-American chairman of Twentieth Century Fox from 1942 to 1962 *

Spyros Spyromilios Spyros Spyromilios (; 1864–1930) was a Greek Gendarmerie officer and guerrilla fighter who took part in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, the Greek Struggle for Macedonia, and the Balkan Wars. In 1914 he proclaimed the Autonomy of his native tow ...

(1864–1930), Greek Gendarmerie officer * Spyros Vallas (born 1981), Greek football player * Spiros Velentzas, American Greek Mob Boss * Spyros Vrettos (born 1960), Greek poet * Spiros Zodhiates (1922–2009), Greek-American author * Spyros Gogolos (born 1978), Greek footballer * Spyros Kastanas (born 1962), Cypriot footballer * Spyros Koulkoudinas, Greek politician * Spyros Kyriakis, Greek politician *

Spyros Kyprianou Spyros Achilleos Kyprianou (; 28 October 1932 – 12 March 2002) was a Cypriot barrister and politician, who served as President of Cyprus from 1977 to 1988. He also served as President of the Cypriot House of Representatives from 1976 to 19 ...

(1932–2002), former President of Cyprus *

Spiros Latsis Spiros J. Latsis (; born 1946) is a Greek billionaire and business magnate. He is the son of the late tycoon Yiannis Latsis, who died in 2003. In 2018, Spiros Latsis ranked #729 on the ''Forbes'' World's Billionaires list, with wealth listed at ...

(born 1946), Greek businessman * Spiros Livathinos (born 1955), Greek football player, coach, and current head scout

Fictional

* Spiros Vondas, fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire''

As a middle name

People with the names ''Spiro/Spiros/Spyros'' as a middle name include: * George Spiro Dibie (1932–2022), American cinematographer * Paul Spyros Sarbanes (1933–2020), former US Senator representing Maryland

As a surname

In Germany, the surname Spiro originated as a corruption of

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

, the name of a town in the

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

. It is one of a number of Jewish surnames that originated this way, along with the better-known Shapiro. People/objects/concepts with the

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

Spiro include: * Alyson Spiro, British actress *Betty Spiro, birth name of Betty Miller (1910–1965), Irish author * Bjørn Spiro (1909–1999), Danish film actor *

Ellen Spiro Ellen Spiro is an American documentary filmmaker. She is a producer and director of the television documentary '' Are the Kids Alright?'', which won an Emmy Award in 2005. Spiro is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where she h ...

(born 1964), American documentary filmmaker * Eugene Spiro (1874–1972), German and American painter * Gideon Spiro (1935–2025), Israeli journalist and activist * György Spiró (born 1946), Hungarian dramatist, novelist and essayist * Harold Spiro (1925–1996), English songwriter * Herbert Spiro (1924–2010), German-born American political scientist * Jordana Spiro (born 1977), American actress * Joseph Moses Spiro (–1830), Austrian rabbi * Lev L. Spiro, American film and television director * Karl Spiro (1867–1932), German biologist and physical chemist * Mark Spiro (1957–2024), American songwriter, musician, and record producer * Melford Spiro (1920–2014), American cultural anthropologist * Michel Spiro (born 1946), French physicist * Peter J. Spiro (born 1961), American legal scholar * Samantha Spiro (born 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 * Sienna Spiro (born 2005), English singer-songwriter * Stephen Spiro (1939–2007), American political activist

References

{{Reflist Greek masculine given names Masculine given names Surnames Surnames of Jewish origin Yiddish-language surnames Jewish toponymic surnames Jews and Judaism in Speyer