Baby Names US
girls' name ★ peaked 2025

Lyra

Gender Girl Rank 2025 #435 Trend ↑ Rising 46%

Lyra is a feminine given name of Greek and Latin origin meaning lyre.

Rank 2025
#435
among girls · ↑47 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
711
named Lyra · +11% vs 2024
How common
1 in 2,261
girls born in 2025
Peak year
2025
711 babies
All-time total
8,095
#1,895 all-time among girls
First recorded
1893
in Social Security records

Lyra popularity over time

8,095 babies have been named Lyra since 1893, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
0.130.250.380.518801900192019401960198020002020Peak 2025Girls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – –
1890s 10 1 – #1,560
1900s – – – –
1910s 31 3 – #3,313
1920s 43 4 +39% #2,462
1930s 11 1 -74% #4,208
1940s 20 2 +82% #3,768
1950s 19 2 -5% #4,754
1960s 39 4 +105% #4,362
1970s 108 11 +177% #3,817
1980s 114 11 +6% #3,936
1990s 87 9 -24% #6,092
2000s 760 76 +774% #1,089
2010s 3,038 304 +300% #673
2020s (to 2025) 3,815 636 +109% #435

Where Lyra is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 760 0.47 #410
2027 805 0.50 #379
2028 844 0.53 #363
2029 880 0.55 #347
2030 911 0.57 #336

Where Lyra is most popular

Girls named Lyra per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.403 per 1,000. Strongest in Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Lyra born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Oregon 75 1.15 +186%
Vermont 5 1.03 +156%
Washington 144 0.997 +147%
Colorado 109 0.976 +142%
Massachusetts 109 0.902 +124%
North Dakota 11 0.837 +108%
New Mexico 19 0.781 +94%
Kansas 45 0.780 +93%
Idaho 24 0.717 +78%
Minnesota 77 0.714 +77%
Wisconsin 72 0.699 +73%
Nebraska 24 0.668 +66%
Nevada 31 0.667 +65%
Hawaii 7 0.611 +51%
Missouri 72 0.597 +48%
New Hampshire 11 0.596 +48%
Virginia 101 0.593 +47%
Connecticut 34 0.584 +45%
Alaska 5 0.581 +44%
Pennsylvania 133 0.562 +39%
South Carolina 50 0.556 +38%
Utah 46 0.553 +37%
Tennessee 87 0.549 +36%
Ohio 127 0.535 +33%
Oklahoma 39 0.530 +31%
Michigan 94 0.516 +28%
Maryland 53 0.500 +24%
Iowa 29 0.496 +23%
Illinois 105 0.459 +14%
Indiana 64 0.456 +13%
Maine 7 0.453 +12%
New York 175 0.442 +10%
North Carolina 100 0.439 +9%
Arizona 61 0.435 +8%
California 358 0.426 +6%
Arkansas 20 0.378 -6%
Florida 161 0.376 -7%
Kentucky 30 0.351 -13%
South Dakota 5 0.350 -13%
New Jersey 54 0.299 -26%
Georgia 67 0.295 -27%
Alabama 26 0.277 -31%
West Virginia 7 0.267 -34%
Texas 197 0.245 -39%
Mississippi 11 0.235 -42%
Louisiana 14 0.160 -60%
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Montana – – –
Rhode Island – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Lyra

Lyra is moderately common for girls in the United States, ranked #435 in 2025 with 711 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1893, 8,095 American babies have been named Lyra. Its peak came in 2025, when 711 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2020s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Lyra stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Lyra?

The median living Lyra is about 6 years old; half are between 2 and 12. An estimated 7,900 people named Lyra are alive in the United States today.

median 6 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Lyra year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank
2025 711 #435
2024 642 #482
2023 639 #482
2022 637 #496
2021 643 #489
2020 543 #550
2019 431 #673
2018 429 #682
2017 396 #724
2016 298 #922
2015 276 #978
2014 249 #1,046
2013 250 #1,002
2012 247 #1,028
2011 243 #1,027
2010 219 #1,124
2009 234 #1,089
2008 200 #1,258
2007 67 #2,736
2006 62 #2,836
2005 50 #3,152
2004 45 #3,370
2003 26 #4,889
2002 28 #4,455
2001 29 #4,277
2000 19 #5,845
1995 10 #8,470
1990 7 #10,903
1985 9 #7,310
1980 20 #3,936
1975 12 #5,026
1970 8 #6,119
1965 – –
1960 8 #5,011
1955 – –
1950 – –
1945 – –
1940 – –
1935 – –
1930 5 #4,974
1925 – –
1920 – –
1915 8 #3,313
1910 – –
1905 – –
1900 – –
1895 – –
1890 – –
1885 – –
1880 – –

Famous people named Lyra

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Lyra McKee Lyra McKee Northern Ireland journalist (1990–2019) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Lyra, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Lyra?

The median living Lyra is about 6 years old. Half of all living Lyras are between 2 and 12 years old.

How many people named Lyra are alive today?

An estimated 7,900 people named Lyra are alive in the United States, based on 8,095 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Lyra mean?

Lyra is a feminine given name of Greek and Latin origin meaning lyre.

How popular is the name Lyra in 2025?

Lyra ranked #435 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 711 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Lyra?

8,095 babies have been named Lyra in the United States since 1893, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Lyra most popular?

Lyra peaked in 2025, when 711 newborns received the name.

Is Lyra a boy or girl name?

Lyra is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Lyra rising or falling?

Lyra is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Lyra become more popular?

Lyra is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 911 girls named Lyra in 2030, which would rank around #336. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Lyra?

Well-known people named Lyra include Lyra McKee (writer).

Names like Lyra

Names that sound and feel close to Lyra: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Lyra with similar names → More names starting with L →