Head to head · Girls' names
Melina vs Myra
#660 vs #662 in 2025
Melina is a whisker ahead (#660 vs #662 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Melina 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, Myra leads 3 measures of 6; Melina leads 2.
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: Melina #1013, Myra #190 — Myra higher
- 1890s: Melina #1412, Myra #236 — Myra higher
- 1900s: Melina #1668, Myra #283 — Myra higher
- 1910s: Melina #2697, Myra #292 — Myra higher
- 1920s: Melina #4378, Myra #295 — Myra higher
- 1930s: Melina #4202, Myra #260 — Myra higher
- 1940s: Melina #3751, Myra #230 — Myra higher
- 1950s: Melina #3446, Myra #259 — Myra higher
- 1960s: Melina #1553, Myra #356 — Myra higher
- 1970s: Melina #1139, Myra #497 — Myra higher
- 1980s: Melina #972, Myra #600 — Myra higher
- 1990s: Melina #710, Myra #833 — Melina higher
- 2000s: Melina #539, Myra #989 — Melina higher
- 2010s: Melina #598, Myra #672 — Melina higher
- 2020s: Melina #645, Myra #601 — Myra higher
Myra stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Myra took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Melina | Myra |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #1013 | #190 |
| 1890s | #1412 | #236 |
| 1900s | #1668 | #283 |
| 1910s | #2697 | #292 |
| 1920s | #4378 | #295 |
| 1930s | #4202 | #260 |
| 1940s | #3751 | #230 |
| 1950s | #3446 | #259 |
| 1960s | #1553 | #356 |
| 1970s | #1139 | #497 |
| 1980s | #972 | #600 |
| 1990s | #710 | #833 |
| 2000s | #539 | #989 |
| 2010s | #598 | #672 |
| 2020s | #645 | #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
Melina
honey; also a pet form of names like Carmela and Michalina
Two serious readings sit side by side. The Greek one traces Melina to *meli*, honey — the root that also gives Melissa, 'bee'. The other treats it as a diminutive ending grafted onto other names: Carmelina and Carmela in Italian and Spanish, Michalina in Polish, each of which can shorten to Melina. Both routes are genuinely in use, and a family can honestly claim either.
meli (Greek, 'honey') → Melina → Mélina
How it traveled
The honey word *meli* is ancient Greek, and the -ina ending is a diminutive that Greek, Italian and Spanish all share, so Melina could be formed independently in more than one place — which is roughly what happened. In Greece it stands on its own; in Italy and Spain it has long doubled as the short form of Carmela and Carmelina; in Poland it turns up behind Michalina.
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
Melina
meh-LEE-nah
Stress on the middle syllable. Some American families say muh-LEE-nuh with a softer first vowel; the French Mélina and Greek Μελίνα both keep the same shape, so the name survives the crossing between languages with little damage.
- Mel — The everyday informal short form; shared with Melanie, Melissa and Melinda, so it says less about which name is on the certificate.
- Lina — Taken from the back half; also a full given name in its own right across Germany, Italy and the Arabic-speaking world.
- Mimi — A family-level nickname rather than a school one, common in Greek and Italian households.
- Melly — Informal and mostly used by parents and close friends in childhood.
- Also Meli.
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.
One short form, two names
- Melina and Myra both shorten to Mimi.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Melina if you want…
- a name with more sound in itMelina runs 3 syllables, Myra 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Mel, Lina and Mimi
- a newer arrivalMelina entered the US charts in 1883
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 Melina'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
Melina
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and short enough that no one has to ask twice how it is written.
- Works unchanged in Greek, Italian, Spanish and German, which matters in a family that spans more than one of them.
- Short forms are already established — Mel, Lina, Meli — so nothing has to be invented.
To consider
- It sits close to Melinda, Melanie, Malina and Melania, and will occasionally be heard or written as one of those. A clear first introduction usually settles it.
- In medical settings, 'melena' is a clinical term with a similar sound. It is a narrow overlap, unlikely to surface in daily life, but worth knowing about in advance rather than later.
- Mel, the most natural short form, belongs equally to several other names, so it does not point back to Melina on its own.
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 Melina 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 Melina and Myra?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Melina or Myra — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Melina or Myra?
- Melina, in 2025: Melina ranked #660 with 434 babies; Myra ranked #662 with 429 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Melina or Myra?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Melina moved down 12 places; Myra moved down 106 places.
- Which is the older name, Melina or Myra?
- Melina entered the US charts in 1883; 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 Melina and Myra?
- About 19,500 people named Melina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 41,500 people named Myra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Melina and Myra share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Mimi, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
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 Melina, Myra and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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