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.

Surname

People with the surname Spiro include:

• Alyson Spiro, British actress
• Betty Miller (née Spiro) (1910–1965), Irish author
• Ellen Spiro (b. 1964), American documentary filmmaker
• Eugene Spiro (1874–1972), German and American painter
• György Spiró (b. 1946), Hungarian dramatist, novelist and essayist
• Harold Spiro (1925–1996), English songwriter
• Herbert Spiro (1924–2010), German-born American political scientist
• Jordana Spiro (b. 1977), American actress
• Lev L. Spiro, American film and television director
• Karl Spiro (1867–1932), German biologist and physical chemist
• Mark Spiro, American songwriter, musician, and record producer
• Melford Spiro (1920–2014), American cultural anthropologist
• Michel Spiro, French physicist
• Peter Spiro, American legal scholar
• Samantha Spiro (b. 1968), British actor
• Samuel Spiro (d. 1814), Greek-born Argentine naval captain
  • ARA Spiro (P-43), the corvette of the Argentine Navy named after Samuel Spiro
• Stephen Spiro (1939–2007), American political activist

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

• Spiros Marangos, Greek footballer
• Spiros Markezinis (1909–2000), Greek politician
• Spyros Moustakas, Greek writer
• Spyros Paliouras, Greek writer
• Spyros B. Pavlides, Greek geologist
• Spyros Samaras (1861–1917), Greek composer of the Olympic Anthem
• Paul Spyros Sarbanes (b. 1933), former US Senator representing Maryland
• Spyros Skouras (1893–1971), Greek-American chairman of Twentieth Century Fox from 1942 to 1962
• Spyros Spyromilios, Greek Gendarmerie officer
• Spyros Vallas (b. 1981), Greek football player
• Spiros Velentzas, American Greek Mob Boss
• Spiros Vondas, fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire
• Spyros Vrettos, Greek poet
• Spiros Zodhiates, Greek-American author

See also

• Spirou
• Spira, a Jewish name sometimes also spelled "Spiro"
• Schapiro, Shapiro
• Schapira, Shapira
• Spire