Thyra
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "strength, warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 502 living Americans carry the first name Thyra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Thyra today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thyra births was 1918 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thyra. 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 Thyra with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
502
~ 1 in 682,778 Americans
Peak year
1918
30 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,358
Tracked since 1896
Census
Thyra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 586 people with the first name Thyra, which placed it at #18,401 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
#18,401
National first-name rank
People counted
586
586 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thyra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thyra is White at 63.8%. The next largest groups are Black (21.3%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Thyra 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 Thyra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.8% · 374
- Black or African American21.3% · 125
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 34
- Two or more races5.3% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 8
Popularity
Thyra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thyra from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 206 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thyra 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 Thyra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thyras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Thyra
The name Thyra has its roots in Old Norse and Scandinavian languages. It is derived from the Old Norse word "þyrr," which means "Thor," the powerful god of thunder in Norse mythology. This name was particularly popular in ancient Norse and Viking cultures, where the worship of Thor played a significant role in their beliefs and traditions.
During the Viking Age, spanning from the late 8th to the late 11th century, the name Thyra was commonly bestowed upon girls born within Norse communities. It was a name associated with strength, bravery, and the protection of the mighty Thor. The earliest recorded use of the name Thyra dates back to the 9th century, when it was mentioned in various Norse sagas and historical accounts.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Thyra was Thyra Danebod, a semi-legendary Danish queen who lived in the late 10th century. According to chronicles, she was the wife of King Gorm the Old and played a crucial role in the unification of Denmark and the spread of Christianity throughout the kingdom.
Another prominent Thyra was Thyra Sveinsdóttir, a Norwegian princess who lived in the 11th century. She was the daughter of King Svein Hákonarson and was married to the Danish prince Harald Svendsen, who later became King Harald III of Denmark.
In the realm of literature, the name Thyra appears in the Icelandic Sagas, such as the Saga of the Jomsvikings, which recounts the exploits of a legendary Danish prince named Thyri and his involvement in the Battle of Hjörungavágr in the late 10th century.
Thyra Munkedatter, a Danish noble who lived in the 12th century, is also noteworthy. She was the daughter of King Eric III of Denmark and played a significant role in the political affairs of her time.
Moving forward in history, Thyra Danneskiold-Samsøe, a Danish noblewoman born in 1815, was a prominent figure in the cultural and literary circles of her era. She was a writer and philanthropist who established several educational institutions and supported the arts.
Throughout the centuries, the name Thyra has maintained its strong connection to Scandinavian cultures and Norse mythology, reflecting the enduring legacy of the powerful god Thor and the valor and strength associated with this ancient name.
People
Thyra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thyra as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Thyra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thyra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 502 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thyra 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 682,778 US residents.
Is Thyra a common name?
We classify Thyra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,312 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thyra most popular?
The single biggest year for Thyra was 1918, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thyra is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thyra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 586 people with the name Thyra, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,401 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 Thyra 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 Thyra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thyra leans strongly female. 586 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Thyra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thyra is White at 63.8%. The next largest groups are Black (21.3%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Thyra most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Thyra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.8% (374 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 Thyra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thyra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thyra 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 Thyra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thyra 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 Thyra 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 are called Thyra?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.