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 ...
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 jealou ...
" 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 ar ...
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
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 with ...
, 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 (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 (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 internationall ...
(born 1950), handbell composer
*
Cynthia Joan Gastelle (1961–1980), formerly unidentified American murder victim
*
Cynthia Germanotta (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 s ...
, 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 (born 1953), American musician and LGBT rights activist
*
Cynthia Ling Lee, 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); 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, Argentinian singer and songwriter
*
Cynthia Nixon (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 (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 (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 (born 1966), American rower
*
Cynthia Morgan St. John (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 (Torres), American freestyle singer
*
Cynthia Valdez (born 1987), Mexican rhythmic gymnast
*
Cynthia Villar (born 1950), Filipino politician
*
Cynthia Watros (born 1968), American actress
*
Cynthia Weil (born 1940), American songwriter
*Cynthia Wesley (1949-1963), a victim of the 1963
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
*
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'', 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), comic book supervillainess
*
Cynthia, a plaster mannequin of the 1930s created by Lester Gaba.
*
Cynthia, 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, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise.
In terms of what each of thos ...
'' 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'' played by Donna Dixon
* Cynthia, a central character in the poetry of
Propertius
* Cynthia Kirkpatrick, a character in ''
Wives and Daughters'' by Elizabeth Gaskell
See also
*
Cindy (given name)
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