Home › Baby Names Directory › Cerys
Cerys
Pronounced KERR-iss /ˈkɛrɪs/Medium
Meaning: Cerys is a genuine Welsh girls' name, generally traced to the Welsh caru, to love, or the related cariad, beloved. Popular in Wales, it is a real heritage name with a settled, tender meaning rather than a coinage.Medium
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Cerys is a genuine Welsh name, traced to the Welsh caru, to love, and its cousin cariad, beloved. It is a familiar choice in Wales, carried by figures such as the singer Cerys Matthews, but in the United States it is decidedly rare. It appears in American records from the late 1990s, reached a modest high in the mid-2010s, and has stayed scarce. It was never common here, given to only a couple dozen girls a year.
A girl named Cerys from the mid-2010s is still a child today, so in America it reads as a fresh heritage import rather than a vintage name. It is not part of a mainstream U.S. revival, but it fits neatly with the current taste for short, meaning-rich Celtic names and may quietly grow.
Variations
Nicknames
Famous Bearers
- ★Cerys Matthews (born 1969)Welsh singer, lead vocalist of the band Catatonia and later a broadcaster.
If you like Cerys…
Explore names like Cerys
Frequently Asked
What does the name Cerys mean?
It is a Welsh name meaning love, from the Welsh caru, to love, and cariad, beloved.
How do you pronounce Cerys?
It's said KERR-iss /ˈkɛrɪs/, two syllables with the stress on the first.
Is Cerys a boy or girl name?
Cerys is used as a girl's name.
How popular is Cerys?
It is popular in Wales but has always been rare in the United States, carried by only a handful of families.