Kyra
Meaning
variant of Kira; sometimes considered a feminine form of Cyrus
The story
Kyra is a variant of Kira, says Behind the Name, and it is sometimes considered a feminine form of Cyrus; the source keeps both roads open. Kira leads back through Ciara to the Irish Ciar, "black", while Cyrus is the Latin form of the Greek Kyros, from an Old Persian name possibly meaning "young" or "humiliator of the enemy". The American record built patiently and then quickly: about 92 girls in the 1940s, about 715 in the 1960s, about 2,250 in the 1980s, about 8,940 in the 1990s, about 15,640 in the 2000s, about 6,690 in the 2010s, and about 2,450 so far this decade. An Irish word for black on one road, a Persian emperor on the other, and a name that never has to choose.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Kyra peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
571 people · the #12,208 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 333,333 · median age 5
Among people named Kyra living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 243 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Kyra
Most people given the name Kyra in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Kyra deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Kyra truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Kyra fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Kyra travels
African American · A documented choice in Black American families.
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