Lyra
Meaning
"lyre", also the constellation
The story
Lyra is the lyre itself, the small harp the Greeks hung among the stars, and the constellation carries its brightest jewel: Vega burns at the heart of Lyra. The record kept it in single and double digits for a century, then the modern turn: about 760 in the 2000s, the decade after a fantasy heroine with the name and an armored bear beside her filled the bookshops, then 3,000 in the 2010s and already 3,800 so far this decade, past the full 2010s with years to run; the record shows the timing, and timing is all a record can show. It goes to girls without exception: about 8,100 to none. An instrument, a constellation, and a heroine who lied beautifully for good reasons: Lyra hands a daughter music and a map of the northern sky in four letters.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Lyra peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
248 people · the #21,808 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 14
Among people named Lyra living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 59 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Lyra
Most people given the name Lyra in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Lyra deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Lyra 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 Lyra fits with your family’s names and surname.
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