Ćirić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ћирић) is among the most common surnames in Serbia. Many bearers outside of Serbia are likely to be of Serbian origin. The name is derived from the name of a male ancestor, Ćiro, or Ćira. Before widespread adoption of fixed surnames, Serbs would generally take their father's name suffixed with -ić (signifying 'the son/daugther of') to distinguish themselves. Thus Petar, the son of Ćiro, would be known as Petar Ćirić. Initially these names were not fixed, so the son of Petar Ćirić, would be Dragan Petrović. But as centuries passed, Serbs increasingly decided to adopt the Western European custom of fixed surnames, with many choosing to take a surname derived from their father's name.

Ćiro and Ćira were introduced to Serbia during the wider Christianisation of Serbia from around the 11th century. During this period, Greek replaced Slavic and Greek names entered use by Serbs; though for much of the medieval period Slavic names were overwhelmingly prefered. Ćiro and Ćira are Greek names, derived from the Greek, Kyros (Greek: Κυρος,) which in turn comes from the Persian, Kurus. The English version of the name is Cyrus. The meaning of the name is disputed, but the most relevant for the name used in Greece and Serbia is likely that recorded by the Greek historian, Plutarch in the late 1st century AD, that is, '"Cyrus" is the Persian word for sun.' Though modern scholars universally dispute this etymology. The name was first used by the Achaemenid dynasty that ruled over parts of Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Other monarchs of the dynasty appeared to have adopted names describing characteristics of great majesty. Thus, of the suggested etymologies I think the most likely is 'he who bestows care' (Tavernier.)

The popularity of the name in Serbia was owed to the veneration of St. Kir (Cyrus) in the Serbian Orthodox Church. He practiced medicine and healed the sick free of charge. His good deeds convinced many to convert to Christianity. The popularity of Ćirić as a surname suggests Ćiro and Ćira must have been some of the most popular forenames in Serbia in the 17th an 18th centuries, during which period fixed surnames were being adopted. Today there are only around 350 bearers of the forenames Ćiro and Ćira in Serbia; compared to almost 15,000 bearers of the surname Ćirić. This disparity is likely due to the legacy of Ćiro Truhelka, a Croatian fascist who was one of the progenitors of the Ustaše movement, which killed hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies during WWII.

Ćirić did not become a popular surname in Croatia due to the rise of Catholicism in the country before the widespread adoption of fixed surnames; and the Catholic Church does not hold St. Kir (Cyrus) in as high an esteem as the Serbian Orthodox Church. It appears there has been a slight rise in the number of Croatians named Ćiro.