Thyra
Feminine · “dedicated to Thor”
There is a stone at Jelling in Denmark, raised by a king for his wife in the tenth century, and it carries the oldest use of the word Denmark inside Denmark itself. The wife's name was Thyra. A country's name survives because a man wanted hers remembered.
How old is the name Thyra?
Thyra first appears in US birth records in 1896 — 129 years ago. The typical Thyra alive today was born around 1939, making them about 86 years old. About 600 people named Thyra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Thyra most popular?
Thyra peaked in 1904, reaching #755 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 10,162 places below that high. See the whole 1904 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Thor to Thyra
The story of Thyra
Thor is all over Norse naming: Thorstein, Thorbjorn, Thorvald, Thordis, Thora, and the fifth day of the English week. Thyra belongs to that group. The historical Thyra was married to Gorm the Old and was the mother of Harald Bluetooth, and the two Jelling stones are the family's monument — the smaller one raised by Gorm for her, the larger by their son. The inscription on the smaller stone calls her Denmark's adornment, and it contains the earliest occurrence of the name Denmark on Danish soil. The stones are still standing in the churchyard at Jelling with a fence round them.
Meaningscholars disagree
dedicated to Thor
Old Norse Thyri or Thyra is built on the god's name, Thor, with a second element that has never been agreed — a word for a warrior, a word for dear, and a word for help have all been proposed. The first half is certain and the second is not, which is common with the shorter Norse names.
How the name formed
- Thor
- Thyri
- Thyra
Related forms: Thyra · Tyra · Tyra
Pronouncing Thyra
TEE-rah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Danish gives the first vowel a rounded sound English does not have, between ee and oo. Americans usually say THY-ruh, with the th of think and the vowel of eye, which is a different word.
Nicknames for Thyra
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
- 1896
- Most girls named
- 191727 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #755reached in 1904
- Change vs 2023
- −46.7%8 in 2025, from 15
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.
Thyra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Thyra in Danish — same name
- Tyra in Norwegian — same name
- Tyra in Swedish — same name
Thyras among us
people named Thyra are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Thyra
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Thyra 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
Thyra beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Thyra in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented tenth-century bearer with a monument that still exists and can be visited.
- Five letters and two syllables, easy to say once the vowel is settled.
- It is a current name in Denmark rather than a revival.
- The th and the y are both read the English way by default, which produces a name Denmark would not recognize.
- Tyra without the h is much commoner in America and will be offered as a correction.
- It is strongly represented among older generations of Scandinavian-American families.
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What they receive
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Thyra
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Thyras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Thyra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Thyra in 2025?
- Thyra ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Thyra?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Thyra — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Thyra with classmates?
- Thyra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Thyra
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Thyra? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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