View Message

[Surname] Cyr
Any information as to what this surname means? It's a name that's very common in the French-speaking areas of New Brunswick and northern Maine, particularly North-Western New Brunswick. Thanks for any help.
vote up1vote down

Replies

(From Ancestry.com):
Cyr
French: from the Latin personal name Quiricus or Cyricus, Greek Kyrikos or Kyriakos, ultimately from Greek kyrios ‘lord’, ‘master’. This name was borne by a 4th-century martyr, a small child martyred with his mother St. Julitta in 304 ad (see Quilici). In North America it is sometimes Americanized as Sears. Quilici
Italian: patronymic from the personal name Quilico, an altered form of Quirico, borne by a (probably fictitious) 4th-century infant saint, said to have been martyred at Tarsus with his mother Julitta, who was honored in the Middle Ages as a patron of children. The name is probably a blend of two other names, both borne by numerous early saints: Latin Quirinus (originally a title borne by Romulus, founding father of Rome, referring to the Sabine city of Cures) and Greek Kyriakos (a derivative of kyrios ‘lord’, ‘master’).
vote up1vote down
thanks very much!
vote up1vote down
Short for CYRIACUS?
vote up1vote down
thankyou!
vote up1vote down