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Another school suggests that it stems from the Eteocypriot word for copper. Georges Dossin, for example, suggests that it has roots in the Sumerian word for copper (zubar) or for bronze (kubar), from the large deposits of copper ore found on the island.

Through overseas trade the island has given its name to the Classical Latin word for the metal through the phrase aes Cyprium,metal of Cyprus", later shortened to Cuprum. Cyprus is also called "the island of Aphrodite , since the Greek goddess Aphrodite, of beauty and love, was born in Cyprus. The most common theory is that it came from their word for copper, Kypros, because the island had rich deposits of copper.