Given name
Thyra
“the shield-bearer”
Thyra is used as a given name. One Greek interpretation is “the shield-bearer.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “the shield-bearer.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
Probably from Old Danish Thyrvi, from Old Norse Þórr.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1896. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Thyra through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,320
- 0 boys · 1,320 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 30 babies
- 2025
- 8
- #11,838 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +100%
- Rising fast
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 8 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 11,838 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for girls was 30 in 1918. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 592 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Thyra’s family of names
In Swedish usage, Thyra has a related form in Tyra. Thyra has a related form in Thira. Thyra has a related form in Thirah.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Thyra
- Princess Thyra of Denmarkyoungest daughter of Christian IX of Denmark and Queen Louise (1853–1933)
- Princess Thyra of DenmarkDanish princess; sixth child and third daughter of Frederick VIII of Denmark and Louise of Sweden (1880-1945)
- ThyraViking Age Danish queen914–958
- Thyra FrankDanish politicianborn 1952
- Thyra Eibemathematician and translator1866–1955
- Avis AcresNew Zealand artist, writer, illustrator, conservationist (1910-1994)
- Ingrid Detter de FrankopanSwedish scholar of international lawborn 1936
- Thyra von WesternhagenHanoverian princessborn 1973
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Thyra, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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