Myra

MY-rah

Greek

"sweet-smelling oil"

Myra Origin and Meaning

The name Myra is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "sweet-smelling oil".

As with many grandmother-y names, this choice may be coming back into style.

Myra was invented in the seventeenth century by a poet called Fulke Greville as a short form of Miranda--or perhaps an anagram of Mary-- and it quickly caught on with other poets and romantic novelists, particularly popular with the Scots. There were leading characters named Myra in Sinclair Lewis's novel Babbitt and in Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy. Later it was the name of the central character in Gore Vidal's 1968 Myra Breckinridge, and plays a minor role in the Divergent. trilogy.

Myra was as high as Number 158 in the 1880s. A notable namesake is the great pianist, Dame Myra Hess.

Myra Rank in US Top 1000

# 594 in the US

Myra Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 754 on Nameberry

Myra Popularity

• 594 US 2023
• 754 Nameberry 2024
• 178 Canada 2023
• 348 Future 2028
• 460 England 2023

20 Names Similar to Myra

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Myra.

• Meara
• Mira
• Melora
• Davina
• Mara
• Freja
• Mina
• Ailsa
• Elvira
• Ciara
• Clea
• Leora
• Lainey
• Kenna
• Catriona
• Moira
• Elspeth
• Capri
• Cynthia
• Delta

Famous People Named Myra

• (Julia) Myra Hess English pianist
• Myra Nathalie Hiatt Kraft American philanthropist
• Myra Ellen "Tori" Amos American singer,songwriter
• Myra Maybelle Shirley birth name of American Western outlaw Belle Starr
• Myra Colby Bradwell American lawyer, publisher and activist
• Myra Taylor (born Myra Jardine Render) American R&B singer
• Myra MacPherson American historian and author
• Myra Soble Russian spy
• Myra (born Mayra Caról Ambriz Quintana) American pop singer
• Myra M. Bennett Canadian pioneering nurse
• Myra Ellen Robinson Crownover American politician from Texas
• Florence Myra Zamparelli daughter of Jennifer Maguire & Lauterio Zamparelli

Myra in Pop Culture

• Myra Breckinridge main character of Gore Vidal's gender,bending satirical novel
• Myra Driscoll Henshawe character in Willa Cather's "My Mortal Enemy" (1926)
• Myra Hope Ashburn, wealthy friend to Dr. Gwyneth Cornwell in "The Widow" (1957) by Francis King
• Myra Celestina Philomena Portia McQueen character on British soap "Hollyoaks"
• Myra Monkhouse girlfriend to Steve Urkel on TV's "Family Matters"
• Myra minor character on TV's "Suits"
• Myra minor character in the Divergent series
• Myra 1964 song by The Seekers
• Myra Hanson Castellanos character in the video game series "The Evil Within"