Given name & surname
Lyra
“one who plays the lyre”
Lyra is used as a given name and a surname. One Greek interpretation is “one who plays the lyre.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “one who plays the lyre.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
From Latin Lyra, from Ancient Greek λύρα (“a lyre; the constellation Lyra”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1893. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Lyra through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 8,095
- 0 boys · 8,095 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 711 babies
- 2025
- 711
- #435 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +56%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 711 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 435 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 56.0% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (89). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,270 as a first name in 2020; 143 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Lyra’s family of names
Lyra has a related form in Lyris. Lyra has a related form in Lyria. Lyra has a related form in Lyre.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Lyra
Characters named Lyra: Lyra Belacqua (His Dark Materials character).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Lyra, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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