Kyra
Of Greek origin, meaning "lady" or "supreme ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 36,898 living Americans carry the first name Kyra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Kyra today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kyra births was 2005 (1,918 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kyra. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kyra with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
37K
~ 1 in 9,289 Americans
Peak year
2005
1,918 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2005 SSA rank
#722
Tracked since 1919
Census
Kyra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 32,872 people with the first name Kyra, which placed it at #1,193 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,193
National first-name rank
People counted
33K
32,872 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
10.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kyra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyra is White at 56.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.5%) and Two or More Races (9.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kyra described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kyra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.6% · 18,597
- Black or African American20.5% · 6,739
- Two or more races9.0% · 2,963
- Hispanic or Latino8.6% · 2,824
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 1,325
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 424
Gender
Gender distribution for Kyra
Out of the 37,970 babies given the name Kyra since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Kyra as a male name
- Ranked #10,897 in 2005
- 6 male births in 2005
- Peak: 2000 (7 births)
Kyra as a female name
- Ranked #722 in 2024
- 389 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (1,912 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kyra appears almost entirely female. Of the 32,874 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Kyra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kyra from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 15,648 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kyra by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kyra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kyras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Kyra, while Wyoming, Vermont, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 688 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kyra
The name Kyra has its origins in the Greek language, deriving from the word "kyrios," meaning "lord" or "master." It is believed to have emerged around the 5th century AD during the Byzantine era in the regions of Greece and Asia Minor.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the works of the 6th-century Greek historian Procopius, who mentioned a woman named Kyra in his writings about the Byzantine Empire.
In ancient Greek mythology, Kyra was also the name of one of the Oceanids, the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. This association with Greek mythology likely contributed to the name's popularity and endurance over time.
During the Middle Ages, the name Kyra gained recognition as a variant of the name Cyrilla, which was borne by several early Christian saints and martyrs. One notable example is Saint Cyrilla of Tarsus, a 4th-century martyr who was venerated for her unwavering faith.
Throughout history, the name Kyra has been carried by various notable individuals, including:
1. Kyra Korinth (c. 1100 AD), a Byzantine noblewoman and influential figure in the court of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.
2. Kyra Theodora (c. 1240 AD), a Byzantine princess and daughter of Emperor John III Vatatzes.
3. Kyra Tamara (c. 1365 AD), a Georgian princess and member of the Bagrationi dynasty.
4. Kyra Kontari (c. 1425 AD), a Greek Renaissance poet and scholar from Crete.
5. Kyra Theodora Kantakouzene (c. 1500 AD), a Byzantine noblewoman and patron of the arts during the Renaissance period.
The name Kyra has maintained its presence throughout the centuries, with variations in spelling and pronunciation appearing in different cultures and languages. Its deep-rooted connections to Greek history, mythology, and Byzantine heritage have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Kyra
People
Kyra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kyra as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kyra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kyra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 36,898 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kyra going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 9,289 US residents.
Is Kyra a common name?
We classify Kyra as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 37,970 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kyra most popular?
The single biggest year for Kyra was 2005, when 1,918 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kyra is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kyra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 32,872 people with the name Kyra, or 10.88 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,193 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kyra in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kyra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kyra appears almost entirely female. Of the 32,874 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kyra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kyra is White at 56.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.5%) and Two or More Races (9.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kyra most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kyra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.6% (18,597 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kyra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kyra a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Kyra in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kyra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kyra in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kyra can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Kyra?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Kyra, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.