Cru is a short modern name taken from the French word cru, which means "growth" or "vineyard" and is familiar from wine labels such as grand cru; it is also heard as a clipped form of Cruz, Spanish for cross. The name has the same brisk feel as Crew and Cash. Cru climbed in the United States from number 2136 in 2015 to a peak of number 1331 in 2022 and ranks at number 1611 in 2025.