Spiro (name)

Spiro is a surname with a variety of origins, as well as a given name among Greek-speaking populations, Albanians, and the Christians of Lebanon.

Origins

As a Greek name, Spiro may also be spelled Spyro. It comes from the Greek Spiros/Spyros/Speros (Greek: Σπύρος), with a nominative final "s" that is usually dropped when Anglicised. It is a male given name fairly common in Greek-speaking population (Greece especially in Corfu whose patron saint is Saint Spyridon, in Cyprus, Greek diaspora) as well as among the Christians of Lebanon where it is a common first and last name. It is a shortened form of the archaic-sounding Spyridon (Σπυρίδων), which means in ancient Greek "basket used to carry seeds" (Σπυρί, grain, seed). The Greek diminutives for Spirydon are Pipis (Πίπης ) and Pipeto (Πιπέτο).

Špiro is also a male Croat and Montenegrin name.

In Germany, the surname Spiro originated as a corruption of Speyer, the name of a town in the Rhineland. It is one of a number of Jewish surnames that originated this way, along with the better-known Shapiro.[1]

Surname

People with the surname Spiro include:

Given name

Spiro

People with the given name Spiro include:

  • Spiro Agnew (1918–1996), thirty-ninth Vice President of the United States
  • Spyros Gogolos, Greek footballer
  • Spyros Kastanas, Cypriot footballer
  • Spyros Kyprianou (1932–2002), former President of Cyprus
  • Spiros Latsis, Greek businessman
  • Spiros Livathinos (b. 1955), Greek football player, coach, and current head scout
  • Spyridon Louis (1873–1940), Greek gold medallist of the first modern Olympic Marathon
    • Spiros Louis Stadium, the Athens Olympic Stadium named after Louis

Spiros/Spyros

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gollark: What is this actually code *for*?
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gollark: Isn't that slightly below minimum wage?

See also

References

  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2014-06-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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