Tyra
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "thunder" or "warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 13,810 living Americans carry the first name Tyra. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Tyra today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tyra births was 1998 (943 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tyra. 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 Tyra with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Tyra is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 143 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
14K
~ 1 in 24,819 Americans
Peak year
1998
943 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
1997 SSA rank
#4,362
Tracked since 1914
Census
Tyra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,317 people with the first name Tyra, which placed it at #2,162 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
#2,162
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
12,317 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
58.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tyra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tyra is Black at 58.6%. The next largest groups are White (23.3%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). 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 Tyra 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 Tyra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American58.6% · 7,222
- White23.3% · 2,870
- Two or more races7.5% · 927
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 701
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 303
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 294
Gender
Gender distribution for Tyra
Out of the 14,737 babies given the name Tyra since 1880, 99.0% 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.
Tyra as a male name
- Ranked #9,198 in 1997
- 6 male births in 1997
- Peak: 1963 (11 births)
Tyra as a female name
- Ranked #4,362 in 2024
- 33 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (943 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tyra leans strongly female. 12,160 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 157 male bearers (1.3%).
Popularity
Tyra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tyra from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 4,660 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tyra 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 Tyra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tyras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Tyra, while Maine, Alaska, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 242 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tyra
The name Tyra is a Scandinavian name derived from the Old Norse word "þyrr," which means "the god of war and fertility." It is closely related to the Old English name "Thyra" and the Old German name "Thurja." The name's origins can be traced back to the Viking Age, when it was first used by the Norse peoples of Scandinavia.
In ancient Norse mythology, Tyr was the god of war, law, and justice. He was one of the most important deities in the Norse pantheon and was revered for his courage, wisdom, and sense of honor. The name Tyra was likely given to children as a way of honoring Tyr and invoking his protection and blessings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tyra can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of medieval Icelandic literature that dates back to the 13th century. In these sagas, Tyra is mentioned as the name of a powerful Viking queen who ruled over a large territory.
Throughout history, the name Tyra has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the most famous was Tyra Bataviorum, a 7th-century Frankish duchess who ruled over parts of what is now the Netherlands. Another notable figure was Tyra Danmarksdatter (1262-1288), a Danish princess who was married to the King of Norway.
In more recent times, the name Tyra has been associated with several influential women. Tyra Banks (born 1973) is an American television personality, model, and businesswoman who rose to fame as the first African-American woman to grace the covers of GQ and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Tyra Lindholm (1909-1997) was a Swedish film actress who appeared in numerous Swedish and international films during the 1930s and 1940s.
Another notable bearer of the name was Tyra Sanchez (born 1984), an American drag queen and singer who won the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2010. Tyra Misoux (born 1981) is a Swedish singer and songwriter who has released several successful albums and won numerous awards in her home country.
The name Tyra has also been associated with several literary and artistic figures throughout history. Tyra Kleen (1874-1951) was a Swedish painter and illustrator known for her portraits and landscape paintings. Tyra Arnan (1914-1988) was a Swedish author and playwright who wrote several novels and plays that explored themes of love, relationships, and societal norms.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Tyra
People
Tyra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tyra 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
Tyra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tyra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13,810 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tyra 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 24,819 US residents.
Is Tyra a common name?
We classify Tyra as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,737 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tyra most popular?
The single biggest year for Tyra was 1998, when 943 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tyra is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tyra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,317 people with the name Tyra, or 4.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,162 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 Tyra 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 Tyra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tyra leans strongly female. 12,160 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 157 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Tyra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tyra is Black at 58.6%. The next largest groups are White (23.3%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). 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 Tyra most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tyra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.6% (7,222 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 Tyra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tyra a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Tyra 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 Tyra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tyra 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 Tyra 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 Tyra as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.