Cru
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- KROO
- Origin
- French
- UK rank, 2025
- #4,301 for boys
- US rank, 2025
- #1,609 for boys
Cru is a boys' name of French origin, meaning “growth”. In 2025 it ranked 4,301st for boys in the UK (4 babies) and 1,609th for boys in the US (105 babies).
What does Cru mean?
French: French wine term; also a short form of Cruz
“growth”
In French wine terms a cru is a vineyard of recognised quality, as in grand cru; it can also shorten Cruz.
Is Cru a girl's or a boy's name?
Cru is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 4 boys in the UK and 105 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Cru in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 4,301st among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 4 about 1 in 75,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Rising fast up 700% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 4 boys in the UK were named Cru, making it the 4,301st most popular name for boys. Its busiest year was 2024, with 9 boys.
2025 had fewer boys named Cru than any year since 2020.
In 2025, 78 boys in the UK were given Cru or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #515, up from #4,301 for this spelling alone.
Among boys in 2025, it was 4,212th in England and Wales.
Cru in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4 | #4,301 |
| 2024 | 9 | #2,515 |
| 2023 | 8 | #2,691 |
| 2022 | 5 | #3,639 |
| 2021 | 7 | #2,886 |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 0 | – |
| 2016 | 1 | #6,416 |
How popular is Cru in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 1,609th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 105 about 1 in 16,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Steady up 7% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 105 boys in the US were named Cru, making it the 1,609th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 1,423rd. Its busiest year was 2022, with 141 boys. It first appears in the records in 1990.
2025 had fewer boys named Cru than any year since 2018.
Half of all the boys named Cru in the US since 1880 were born between 2014 and 2022, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 2,614 boys in the US were given Cru or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #154, up from #1,609 for this spelling alone.
Cru in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 105 | #1,609 |
| 2024 | 132 | #1,410 |
| 2023 | 110 | #1,576 |
| 2022 | 141 | #1,330 |
| 2021 | 135 | #1,365 |
| 2020 | 121 | #1,423 |
| 2019 | 112 | #1,515 |
| 2018 | 90 | #1,724 |
| 2017 | 64 | #2,129 |
| 2016 | 78 | #1,890 |
| 2015 | 65 | #2,132 |
| 2014 | 63 | #2,152 |
| 2013 | 55 | #2,298 |
| 2012 | 48 | #2,550 |
| 2011 | 58 | #2,231 |
| 2010 | 38 | #3,013 |
| 2009 | 37 | #3,104 |
| 2008 | 33 | #3,342 |
| 2007 | 15 | #5,658 |
| 2006 | 17 | #5,068 |
| 2005 | 12 | #6,220 |
| 2004 | 7 | #8,921 |
| 2003 | 0 | – |
| 2002 | 6 | #9,385 |
| 2001 | 0 | – |
| 2000 | 5 | #10,341 |
| 1999 | 0 | – |
| 1998 | 0 | – |
| 1997 | 0 | – |
| 1996 | 0 | – |
| 1995 | 0 | – |
| 1994 | 0 | – |
| 1993 | 0 | – |
| 1992 | 0 | – |
| 1991 | 0 | – |
| 1990 | 6 | #7,171 |
Names like Cru
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Cruz, Luca, Thiago, Perez, Iago, Rio, Lorcan, Ezra, Arlo, Cooper, Jago, Viggo
Other spellings of Cru
More French names
Eleanor, Beau, Esme, Darcie, Darcy, Genevieve, Amy, Esmae, Arleth, Elle, Russell, Monty, Mallory, Percy, Lacey, Belle
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Cru: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/cru, updated 20 October 2026.