Cynthia is a feminine given name. It is often thought to be of Greek origin (, on the island of Delos), but words and names with "inth" are actually Pre-Greek names belonging to another language family, before the Indo-European migrations. The name has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 17th century. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to Cindy, Cyndi, Cyndy, Cinny, or occasionally to Thea, Tia, or Thia.
Cynthia was originally an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, who according to legend was born on Mount Cynthus on Delos. Selene, the Greek personification of the moon, and the Roman Diana were also sometimes called "Cynthia" due to their association with Artemis.Pannen, p. 96. In Ancient Roman literature, 'Cynthia' is the name of Propertius' love.
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
Amy Elizabeth Thorpe (1910–1963), Anglo-American spy codenamed "Cynthia" Cinthia Zermeño Moore, American politician Cintia Dicker (born 1986), Brazilian model and actress Cyndi Lauper (born Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper, 1953), American singer, songwriter, and actress Cynthia (born Cynthia Torres, 1968), Puerto Rican-American freestyle- and dance-pop singer Cynthia or Cindy Bishop (born 1978), Thai model, actress, TV personality, and entrepreneur Cynthia or Cindy Bremser (born 1953), American runner Cynthia or Cindy Greiner (born 1957), American retired heptathlete and long jumper Cynthia, Christian name of Saori Minami (born 1954), Japanese retired J-pop singer-songwriter Lady Cynthia Asquith (1887–1960), English writer and socialite Lady Cynthia Colville (1884–1968), English courtier and social worker Lady Cynthia Mosley (1898–1933), English aristocrat, politician, and first wife of politician Sir Oswald Mosley Cynthia Abcug, American woman arrested for kidnapping Cynthia Adinig (born 1985), African-American healthcare equity activist Cynthia Adobea (born 1990), Ghanaian footballer Cynthia Ahearn (1952–2008), American echinodermologist and museum specialist Cynthia Aku (born 1999), Nigerian professional footballer Cynthia Akuetteh (born 1948), American diplomat Cynthia Alexander (born 1971), Filipino singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Cynthia Almond (born 1964/1965), American attorney and politician Cynthia Amuzu (born 1965), Ghanaian former badminton player Cynthia Appiah (born 1990), Canadian bobsledder Cynthia Armour Coyne (born 1961), American politician Cynthia Arrieu-King, American poet Cynthia Ashperger (born 1963), Croatian-Canadian film-, television-, and stage actress Cynthia Astwood (born 1946), British former governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands Cynthia Atman, American industrial engineer Cynthia Bah-Traore (born 1981), American missing woman Cynthia Bailey (born 1967), American model, reality television personality, podcaster, and actress Cynthia Baldwin (born 1945), American jurist and former Supreme Court justice Cynthia Ball, American politician Cynthia Banham (born 1972), Australian journalist and academic Cynthia Barboza (born 1987), American retired volleyball player Cynthia Barker (1962–2020), Filipino-born English politician and mayor Cynthia Barnes-Boyd (1953–2017), American academic administrator, professor, and nurse Cynthia Barnett, American author and journalist Cynthia Barnhart (born 1959), American civil engineer and academic Cynthia Baron, American film scholar and professor of theatre and film studies Cynthia Bashant (born 1960), American chief district judge Cynthia Basinet, American actress and singer Cynthia Bathurst, American mathematician and animal welfare advocate Cynthia Bauerle, American molecular biologist and college administrator Cynthia L. Bauerly (born 1970), American civil servant Cynthia Baum, American clinical psychologist and academic administrator Cynthia Beall (born 1949), American physical anthropologist and university professor Cynthia Beath (born 1944), American economist and professor emerita Cynthia Beck, American businesswoman Cynthia J. Becker (born 1957), American former Superior Court Judge Cynthia Beekhuis (born 1990), Dutch footballer Cynthia D. Belar, American scientist and professor emerita of clinical psychology Cynthia Holmes Belcher (1827–1911), American journalist Cynthia Belliveau (born 1963), Canadian former actress Cynthia Bendlin, Paraguayan activist who opposes human trafficking Cynthia Bergstrom, American costume designer Cynthia Bickley-Green, American painter Cynthia Biggs, American songwriter, producer, publisher, and vocalist Cynthia Bir, American professor of biomedical engineering Cynthia Block, Canadian politician and mayor, and former news anchor and journalist Cynthia Bolbach (1947–2012), American lawyer and Presbyterian moderator Cynthia Bolingo (born 1993), Belgian sprinter Cynthia Bolshaw, British murder victim Cynthia Bond (born 1961), American author and actress Cynthia Borrego, American politician Cynthia Bouron (1934–1973), American showgirl and actress Cynthia Bower (born 1955), English social worker Cynthia Brants (1924–2006), American artist Cynthia Breazeal (born 1967), American AI- and robotics scientist and entrepreneur Cynthia Brewer (born 1960), American cartographer, author, and professor of geography Cynthia Brimhall (born 1964), American model and B-film actress Cynthia Bringle (born 1939), American potter Cynthia Brock-Smith, American government official Cynthia Brooke, Viscountess Brookeborough (1897–1970), British peeress Cynthia Brown, several people Cynthia Browning, American politician Cynthia M. Bulik (born 1960), American psychologist and author Cynthia Burek, British professor of geoconservation Cynthia S. Burnett (1840–1932), American educator, temperance reformer, and newspaper editor Cynthia Burrows, American chemist and professor Cynthia Butare, Rwandan-Swiss filmmaker and videographer Cynthia Hilda Evelyn Cadogan, English wife of racehorse owner Sir Humphrey de Trafford, 4th Baronet Cynthia Calderón (born 1988), Peruvian model and beauty pageant titleholder Cynthia Calvillo (born 1987), American retired mixed martial artist Cynthia Cameron (born 1980), Australian taekwondo practitioner Cynthia Flynn Capers (born 1945), American nurse, educator, researcher, and administrator Cynthia Carlson (born 1942), American visual artist Cynthia Carnes, American pharmacologist and academic administrator Cynthia Carr, American writer Cynthia Carrion (born 1948), Filipino sports executive and government official Cynthia Carroll (born 1956), American businesswoman Cynthia Carter (born 1959), British media academic Cynthia Cary (1884–1966), British-American socialite and art collector Cynthia Cattell, American space plasma physicist and professor Cynthia Chaerunnisa, Indonesian founder of coffeehouse chain Kopi Kenangan Cynthia Chafian, American subpoena in the January 6th Committee Cynthia Chalk (1913–2018), Canadian photographer Cynthia Chan (born 1968), Filipino politician and mayor Cynthia Chapple, American research chemist and non-profit executive Cynthia Chase (born 1943), American politician Cynthia Chepkirui (born 2008), Kenyan long-distance- and cross county runner Cynthia Chestek, American biomedical engineer and associate professor of bioengineering and neuroscience Cynthia Chestnut, American politician Cynthia Chigwenya (born 1996), Zimbabwean political researcher and pracademic Cynthia Chin-Lee (born 1958), American children's book author Cynthia Choi, American founder of nonprofit organization Stop AAPI Hate Cynthia Chua (born 1972), Singaporean businesswoman Cynthia Ann Cichorski, birth name of Cindy Morgan (1951–2023), American actress Cynthia Cidre (born 1957), American screenwriter and producer Cynthia Clarey (born 1949), American operatic singer and educator Cynthia Clark (born 1942), American statistician Cynthia Clawson (born 1948), American gospel singer Cynthia Cleese (born 1971), English daughter of actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and presenter John Cleese Cynthia Eloise Cleveland (1845–1932), American lawyer, politician, writer, and temperance worker Cynthia Clopper, American linguist and professor Cynthia Cloud (born 1969), American former politician Cynthia Cockburn (1934–2019), British academic, feminist, and peace activist Cynthia Coffman, several people Cynthia Beverley Washington Coleman (1832–1908), American preservationist and writer Cynthia Comacchio, Canadian historian and professor emerita Cynthia Connolly (born 1976), American photographer, curator, graphic designer, and artist Cynthia Cooke (1919–2016), British military nurse and nursing administrator during World War II Cynthia Cooley (born 1931), American artist Cynthia Cooper, several people Cynthia Coull (born 1965), Canadian former figure skater Cynthia Course (born 1990), Seychellois badminton player Cynthia Crane (born 1936), American jazz- and cabaret singer Cynthia Cranz, American voice actress Cynthia Ann Crawford (born 1966), American model, actress, and businesswoman Cynthia Crawford, British former personal assistant to stateswoman Margaret Thatcher Cynthia Stone Creem (born 1942), American politician Cynthia Crossen (born 1951), American author, journalist, and editor Cynthia Cruz, American contemporary poetess and academic Cynthia Culpeper (1962–2005), American Jewish rabbi Cynthia J. Curry, American emerita professor of pediatrics Cynthia Yih Shih, birth name of Vienna Teng (born 1978), American pianist and singer-songwriter Cynthia Cypert, American actress and stunt performer Cynthia Daignault (born 1978), American painter Cynthia Dale (born 1960), Canadian television actress and stage performer Cynthia Dall (1971–2012), American lo-fi musician and photographer Cynthia Damon (born 1957), American professor of classical studies Cynthia Daniel (born 1976), American photographer and former actress Cynthia Darlow, American actress Cynthia Davis (born 1959), American politician Cynthia de la Vega (born 1991), Mexican model and beauty queen Cynthia de las Fuentes (born 1964), American counseling psychologist Cynthia DeFelice (1951–2024), American children's writer Cynthia del Águila (born 1959), Guatemalan teacher and politician Cynthia Denzler (born 1983), Columbian-American-Swiss alpine skier Cynthia Dill (born 1965), American lawyer and politician Cynthia Djohore (born 1987), Ivorian professional footballer Cynthia Dobrinski (1950–2021), American handbell composer and arranger Cynthia Doerner (born 1951), Australian international tennis player and coach Cynthia Doll, American drag performer Cynthia Dunbar (born 1964), American political candidate and Evangelical writer Cynthia E. Dunbar, American scientist and hematologist Cynthia Dunsford (born 1962), Canadian politician Cynthia Duque (born 1992), Mexican beauty pageant titleholder Cynthia Dwork (born 1958), American computer scientist Cynthia Eager (1936–1996), Hong Kong swimmer Cynthia Ebinger, American geoscientist Cynthia Eckert (born 1965), American rower Cynthia Efird (born 1950), American diplomat and career foreign service officer Cynthia Elbaum (1966–1994), American photojournalist killed in a bombing raid Cynthia Eller, American author