NameCensus.

UK girl's name

Cindy

Diminutive of Cynthia, derived from Greek mythology meaning "from Mount Cynthus".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Cindy is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Cindy popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1449, with 22 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2014, with 34 births.

This profile covers 527 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 65% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 638 living people in the UK are called Cindy. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Cindy ranked #1449 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 22 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2014, when 34 girls were registered as Cindy.
  • Cindy ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #372 in 2004.
  • About 638 living people in the UK are estimated to have Cindy as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#1449

2024

Births in 2024

22

Latest year

Peak year

2014

34 births

Estimated living

638

2026

Meaning

What does Cindy mean?

The name Cindy is a diminutive form of the feminine name Cynthia, which has its origins in Greek mythology. Cynthia was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, who was associated with the moon and was born on Mount Cynthus on the island of Delos.

The name Cynthia is derived from the Greek word "Kynthos," which was an alternative name for the island of Delos. It is believed that the name was first used as a poetic reference to the moon goddess Artemis in ancient Greek literature.

One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Cynthia can be found in the works of the Roman poet Propertius, who lived in the 1st century BC. He wrote a collection of elegies dedicated to his lover, whom he referred to as Cynthia.

The diminutive form Cindy emerged as a shortened version of Cynthia in the 20th century, particularly in the United States. It gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s, becoming a common name for girls born during that time.

Notable historical figures with the name Cindy include Cindy Williams (born 1947), an American actress best known for her role as Shirley Feeney in the television series "Laverne & Shirley." Cindy Margolis (born 1975) is an American model and actress who was once dubbed the "Queen of the Internet."

In literature, Cindy is the name of the central character in the classic fairy tale "Cinderella." Although the name Cinderella is derived from different roots, the shortened form Cindy has become associated with this beloved fictional character.

Other notable historical figures with the name Cindy include Cindy Sherman (born 1954), an American artist known for her conceptual portraits, and Cindy Crawford (born 1966), an American model and actress who was one of the most popular supermodels of the 1990s.

Overall, the name Cindy has its roots in Greek mythology and gained popularity as a diminutive form of Cynthia in the 20th century, particularly in the United States. It has been borne by various notable figures throughout history, spanning various fields such as acting, modeling, and literature.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Cindy over time

The chart below shows babies named Cindy registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Cindy, the clearest high point is 2014. The latest England and Wales figure is 22 births in 2024, compared with 34 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Cindy
09172634199620102024

Decades

Cindy by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Cindy was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #2130 67 5
2010s #1683 196 10
2000s #1291 194 10
1990s #1148 70 4

Geography

Where Cindy is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Cindy. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Cindy ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #372 in 2004.

Northern Ireland
3
Scotland
3

Across the UK

Cindy in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#765 in 2020

20 years of NRS records, 113 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#372 in 2004

1 years of NISRA records, 3 total registered

Notable bearers

Famous people named Cindy

  • Cindy Fazey

    criminologist

    British criminologist

    2000-

  • Cindy Ofili

    athletics competitor

    British athletics competitor

    1994-

  • Cindy Rose

    business executive

    American-British businesswoman

    1965-

  • Cindy Sharp

    musician

    Scottish musician

    1961-

  • Cindy Gallop

    marketer; project manager; sex educator

    English advertising consultant

    1960-

  • Cindy Shelley

    actor

    British actress

    1960-

  • Cindy O'Callaghan

    actor; film actor

    Irish-born British actress

    1956-

  • Cindy Jefferies

    writer; children's writer

    British writer

    1951-

Related

Names similar to Cindy

FAQ

Cindy: questions and answers

How popular is the name Cindy in the UK right now?

In 2024, Cindy was ranked #1449 for girls in England and Wales, with 22 births registered.

When was Cindy most popular?

The peak year on record was 2014, with 34 babies registered as Cindy in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Cindy?

Diminutive of Cynthia, derived from Greek mythology meaning "from Mount Cynthus".

How many people are called Cindy in the UK?

A total of 527 babies have been registered as Cindy across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 113 more in Scotland and 3 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Cindy most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Cindy ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #372 in 2004. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.