Myra
Feminine · “Either a rearrangement of Mary”
Myra is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 63,916 girls against 51 boys since 1880.
Myra begins in English poetry: Sir Fulke Greville, writing in the age of Elizabeth I, gave the name to the woman addressed in his sonnet sequence Caelica, and it left the page for the christening register. Two syllables, spelled the way it sounds, unchanged in four centuries of use. It shares its shape with the ancient Lycian city of Myra, the see of Saint Nicholas.
How old is the name Myra?
Myra was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Myra alive today was born around 1954, making them about 71 years old. About 41,500 people named Myra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Myra most popular?
Myra peaked in 1880, reaching #156 nationally. Today it ranks #662, 506 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Myra
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. It arrived in American records early and has never left them. Quite separately, Myra is a real place — the Lycian city where Saint Nicholas served as bishop in the fourth century — which is why the word looks familiar to readers who have met it in church history rather than in poetry.
Meaningscholars disagree
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.
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Myra
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19601,174 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #156reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −20.6%429 in 2025, from 540
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.
Myra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Myrah in English — spelling variant
- Mayra in Spanish — related form
- Mira in Slavic languages — related form
- Meera in Hindi/Urdu (Latin script) — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Myras among us
people named Myra are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 3,747 born in 2025 was named Myra
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Myra
- #662
- Myra on the 2025 chart
- #238
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Myra went to 429 girls in 2025, but Mira, Myrah and Mirah and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 1,403, which makes it the 238th most-given girls’ name of the year — 424 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 1,146 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 3,747 for Myra itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Myra sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Myra is headed
Myra should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Myra beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Myra in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- Two syllables ending in a vowel, which sits easily in front of most surnames.
- 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.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled — poetry, myrrh, or a city on the Mediterranean. If you want a single tidy answer to give relatives, this name will not supply one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Myra to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Myra? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Myra
Feminine · #662 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Myras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 41,500 people named Myra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Myra?
- Myra is one of 5 recorded spellings. Mira is the more common one — 916 births in 2025 against 429 for Myra.
- How popular is the name Myra in 2025?
- Myra ranks #662 among US girl names in 2025, with 429 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Myra?
- About 1 in every 3,747 US girls born in 2025 was named Myra — 429 in all.
- Will my child share the name Myra with classmates?
- Myra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Myra
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Legacy#662 · Briana#661 · Melina#660 · Isabela#664 · Noor#659 · Jessica#665 · Oakleigh#666 · Jolene#666
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Myra? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Myra and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle