Head to head · Girls' names
Briana vs Myra
#661 vs #662 in 2025
Briana is a whisker ahead (#661 vs #662 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Briana is holding its place on the charts, Myra is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Briana leads 4 measures of 6; Myra leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Briana —, Myra #190 — Myra higher
- 1890s: Briana —, Myra #236 — Myra higher
- 1900s: Briana —, Myra #283 — Myra higher
- 1910s: Briana —, Myra #292 — Myra higher
- 1920s: Briana —, Myra #295 — Myra higher
- 1930s: Briana —, Myra #260 — Myra higher
- 1940s: Briana —, Myra #230 — Myra higher
- 1950s: Briana #4232, Myra #259 — Myra higher
- 1960s: Briana #2464, Myra #356 — Myra higher
- 1970s: Briana #876, Myra #497 — Myra higher
- 1980s: Briana #276, Myra #600 — Briana higher
- 1990s: Briana #80, Myra #833 — Briana higher
- 2000s: Briana #119, Myra #989 — Briana higher
- 2010s: Briana #391, Myra #672 — Briana higher
- 2020s: Briana #575, Myra #601 — Briana higher
Myra stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Briana has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Briana | Myra |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #190 |
| 1890s | — | #236 |
| 1900s | — | #283 |
| 1910s | — | #292 |
| 1920s | — | #295 |
| 1930s | — | #260 |
| 1940s | — | #230 |
| 1950s | #4232 | #259 |
| 1960s | #2464 | #356 |
| 1970s | #876 | #497 |
| 1980s | #276 | #600 |
| 1990s | #80 | #833 |
| 2000s | #119 | #989 |
| 2010s | #391 | #672 |
| 2020s | #575 | #601 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Briana
feminine form of Brian, usually read as "noble" or "high"
Brian goes back to Old Irish, and scholars have not agreed on its root. The leading readings are an Old Celtic element meaning "high, noble, exalted" and a connection to Old Irish brí, "hill" — and by extension worth or dignity. Both are serious; neither has won.
Brían (Old Irish) → Brian → Briana → Brianna
How it traveled
The root name belongs to Ireland, where Brian was borne by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, killed at Clontarf in 1014 — after which it spread through Irish families for centuries. English writers picked it up as well: Spenser gave a character the name Briana in The Faerie Queene in the 1590s.
Myra
Either a rearrangement of Mary, or from Greek myron, 'myrrh, sweet oil'
Two serious readings compete, and neither has won. The first treats Myra as Fulke Greville's poetic anagram of Mary — Elizabethan poets built names that way. The second connects it to Greek myron, 'myrrh' or 'perfumed oil', the same root behind the older name Myron. A third line simply points to Myra, the coastal city in what is now Turkey, whose bishop was Saint Nicholas.
How it traveled
The name was coined, not inherited: it appears as the beloved's name in Caelica, the sonnet sequence by Fulke Greville, first Baron Brooke, written in the late sixteenth century and printed after his death. Later English poets kept it in circulation as a literary name for a woman, and by the nineteenth century it had passed fully into ordinary use in Britain, Ireland and the United States.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Briana
bree-AH-nuh
Also said bree-AN-uh, with the middle syllable rhyming with "can." Both are established in the US, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people toward.
- Bri — The everyday short form, used by friends and family; often written Bree.
- Bree — Same sound, fuller spelling; also stands on its own as a given name.
- Bria — Two syllables rather than three; independently used as a given name in the US.
- Anna — Drawn from the tail of the name; less common, but it works and is a complete name itself.
Myra
MY-ruh
Stress on the first syllable, rhyming with 'fire'. Some families, especially where the name sits alongside Mira and Meera, say MEE-ruh instead — worth deciding early which one you mean, as both will be offered to you.
- My — An affectionate family shortening rather than a public one; most bearers use the full name in every setting, since it is already short.
- Mimi — Used informally in some families, and also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Briana if you want…
- a name with more sound in itBriana runs 3 syllables, Myra 2
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Bri, Bree and Bria
- a newer arrivalBriana entered the US charts in 1950
Choose Myra if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMyra is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesMyra is 2 syllables to Briana's 3
- a long American recordMyra was already in use when US records began in 1880
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Briana
Strengths
- Short forms already in circulation — Bri, Bree, Bria — none of which need explaining.
- Sits in a long Irish naming line through Brian, with a record stretching back to the early Middle Ages.
- Every syllable is spelled the way it sounds, so it survives being read aloud by strangers.
To consider
- Brianna, with two n's, has long been the more common spelling. Expect a lifetime of "one n" corrections on forms, name tags and email addresses.
- Two pronunciations circulate — bree-AH-nuh and bree-AN-uh — and people will guess wrong roughly half the time until told.
- The name clusters strongly among adults now in their twenties and thirties, so a child named Briana is likelier to meet grown women with the name than classmates.
Myra
Strengths
- Spelled as it sounds, and short enough that it never needs shortening — no formal-versus-everyday version to manage.
- In continuous English use since the Elizabethan era, so it is familiar rather than novel, even to people who have met few Myras.
- Recognizable across several languages through its close neighbors Mira, Meera and Mayra.
To consider
- Most Myras in the United States today belong to older generations, so the name currently reads as a grandmother's rather than a classmate's — that is exactly the position names occupy shortly before they come back, but it is where it sits now.
- Mira, Meera, Mayra and Myrna are all in use, and Myra will be misheard as one of them often enough that you will spell it aloud.
- In Britain the name was badly damaged by a notorious 1960s murder case and fell sharply out of favor there. In American ears the association is faint to absent, but it is worth knowing if you have family or ties in the UK.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Briana and Myra in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Briana and Myra?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
Where Briana and Myra each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Briana or Myra — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Briana or Myra?
- Briana, in 2025: Briana ranked #661 with 431 babies; Myra ranked #662 with 429 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Briana or Myra?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Briana moved down 47 places; Myra moved down 106 places.
- Which is the older name, Briana or Myra?
- Briana entered the US charts in 1950; Myra was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Myra is the older name.
- How many people are named Briana and Myra?
- About 95,500 people named Briana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 41,500 people named Myra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Brianas or Myras in the classroom?
- Briana will almost certainly be the only one in school. Myra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Briana, Myra and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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