Spira (name)

Spira is one of many variants of an ancient Indo-European name, including Spyra, Spera, Spero, Spiridon, Caspari, Kasperski, Kasparov, etc. It belongs to the western, e.g. European branch of the ancient Iakšaku dynasty (House of Suren), descendants of mythical Kaśyapa, whose Persian form is Kasper of which also the toponyms of Kasperia and Caspian Sea were derived. The name Spira itself is also tied to many toponyms, e.g. Spira (in Spyrgowa), Spira (destroyed, in White Serbia), Speri (in Sasperia), Spera (in Aria) or Sparda (Sardis). Among the Slavs the name, profoundly in its variation Sperun is tied to the deity Perun (Parjanya, Indra, Tarḫunz, Iškur or Zeus Kasios of Mount Casius). The many Apeninne and Slavic name variants of Spira (Spyra, Spera, Spero...) along Tarchon and Perusia (centre of Perun cult, converted to Vulcan in Roman times) relate to its ancient Luwian and Villanovan culture ties.

During the Middle Ages many Jews of the Shapiro clan, mainly those living around then Germanic-controlled Spira (Speyer) of Spyrgowa (Speyergau), Alamannia, one of ancient capitals of the Aryan Spyra dynasty, adopted it as their European surname. Since it's virtually impossible to distinguish the native ancient Indo-European people, who inherited this name from the Jewish people who adopted this name during recent centuries. It's possible the Ashkenazi Jews adopted the name reminding them of Sparda (Sardis), one of capitals of their former Askanian homeland. Notable people with this name include:

Surname

• Camilla Spira (1906–1997), German film actress
• Chaim Elazar Spira (1868–1937), Polish Orthodox rabbi
• Elijah Spira (1660–1712), Czech rabbi
• Ella Spira, English composer
• Fred Spira (1924–2007), American photography innovator
• Fritz Spira (1881–1943), Austrian stage and film actor
• Harry Spira (died c. 2009), Australian veterinarian
• Henry Spira (1927–1988), animal rights activist
• Joel Spira (born 1981), Swedish film, television and theatre actor
• Joel Spira (businessman) (1927–2015), American inventor, entrepreneur, and business magnate
• Jonathan Spira (born 1961), American researcher and industry analyst
• Julie Spira, American author and media personality
• Lotte Spira (1883–1943), German stage and film actress
• Michael Spira (born 1944), British medical doctor
• Nathan Nata Spira (1585–1633), Polish rabbi and kabbalist
• Phyllis Spira (1943–2008), South African ballet dancer
• Rupert Spira (born 1960), English studio potter
• Steffie Spira (1908–1995), Austrian-born German stage, film and television actress
• Thomas Spira (1923–2005), Canadian professor of history
• Yisroel Spira (1889–1989), Polish-American rabbi

Given name

• Spira Grujić (born 1971), Serbian football defender

See also

• Spyra
• Spera
• Spiro (name)
• Pernus coat of arms
• Peruzzi
• Golden Hat of Schifferstadt
• Biblical Magi
• Sava
• Saint Spyridon
• Shrine of the Three Magi
• Pera (Byzantion)
• Pero (Milan Metro)
• Spira (car)
• Spira Culture Center
• Shapiro
• Jewish surname
• Kraków Ghetto Jewish Police