| Chloe | Cynthia | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Green shoot; blooming | Moon goddess epithet |
| Origin | greek | greek |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | KLOH-ee | SIN-thee-ah |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2009 (11,922) | 1957 (39,340) |
| In 2025 | 6,203 | 0 |
| Trend | Declining | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Chloe | Cynthia |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 37,588 | 1,855 |
| 2010s | 85,316 | 5,946 |
| 2000s | 96,503 | 15,172 |
| 1990s | 25,858 | 31,313 |
| 1980s | 3,605 | 41,666 |
| 1970s | 645 | 80,196 |
| 1960s | 204 | 196,597 |
| 1950s | 296 | 263,432 |
| 1940s | 543 | 58,061 |
| 1930s | 778 | 9,666 |
| 1920s | 746 | 3,661 |
| 1910s | 850 | 1,911 |
| 1900s | 478 | 694 |
| 1890s | 622 | 701 |
| 1880s | 357 | 582 |
From Greek 'chloe' (Χλόη) meaning 'green shoot, young growth of a plant'. It was an epithet of the harvest goddess Demeter marking the fresh green of spring.
Cynthia is from Greek Kynthia, an epithet of Artemis meaning 'from Mount Cynthus,' her birthplace on Delos. The moon association comes because Artemis (and Selene) were called Cynthia; it is cultural, not a literal 'moon' etymology.
Chloe is more popular than Cynthia today: about 6,203 US babies were given the name Chloe in 2025, compared with 0 named Cynthia.
Chloe means Green shoot; blooming (greek origin), while Cynthia means Moon goddess epithet (greek origin).
In US records, Chloe first appears in 1880 and Cynthia in 0, so Cynthia has the longer recorded history.