Elmyra
Feminine · “a form of Elmira”
Elmyra is Elmira written with a y, a name shared with a small city in upstate New York. It was there, in a hilltop study, that Mark Twain wrote much of his greatest book.
How old is the name Elmyra?
Elmyra first appears in US birth records in 1893 — 132 years ago. The typical Elmyra alive today was born around 1923, making them about 102 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Elmyra are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Elmyra most popular?
Elmyra peaked in 1893, reaching #865 nationally. See the whole 1893 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Elmira to Elmyra
The story of Elmyra
Mark Twain married into a family from Elmira, New York, and spent summers at Quarry Farm above the town, where his sister-in-law built him an eight-sided study so that he could smoke and write in peace. There he wrote much of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and he is buried in Elmira. The name of the town was also given to girls, and Elmyra writes it with a y, a choice the record does not explain.
Meaningscholars disagree
a form of Elmira
Elmira is sometimes traced to Arabic amīra, princess, through Spanish, and sometimes to Elvira; its origin is argued. Elmyra is a spelling of it.
How the name formed
- Elmira
- Elmyra
Related forms: Elmira
Pronouncing Elmyra
el-MY-ruh
Stress on the middle syllable.
Nicknames for Elmyra
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1893
- Most girls named
- 192024 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #865reached in 1893
- Change vs 1959
- −44.4%5 in 2019, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Elmyra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Elmira in Spanish — spelling variant
Elmyras among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Elmyra are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Elmyra sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It connects to a meaningful place in American letters.
- Myra and Elly give two short forms.
- People will write Elmira.
- It sounds old-fashioned to many ears.
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Elmyra
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Elmyras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Elmyra are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Elmyra in 2025?
- Elmyra is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Elmyra with classmates?
- Elmyra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More E names
The most-given names starting with E, all years combined.
Elizabeth#17 · Emily#34 · Emma#3 · Evelyn#8 · Ella#29 · Eleanor#12 · Erin#833 · Edna#2458
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Elmyra? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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