Myra (given name)

The name Myra was created by the 17th-century poet Fulke Greville 1st Barone Brooke (1554–1628). Its origins are unknown, though some speculate the created name is an anagram of the name Mary, a variant spelling of the Latin word myrrha, meaning myrrh, a fragrant resin obtained from a tree, or derived from the Latin mirari, meaning wonder, the same source from which William Shakespeare derived the invented name Miranda.^[1]

Origin and meaning

• English meaning of the name Myra for a girl: poetic invention
• Greek meaning of the name Myra for a girl: myrrh, an aromatic shrub. Myra is associated with the same "myrrh" that, according to Matthew, was brought as a gift to the infant Jesus by the Magi, along with gold and frankincense.
• Latin meaning of the name Myra for a girl: variation of Miranda, admirable, extraordinary
• Arabic meaning of the name Myra for a girl : Aristocratic Lady
• Hebrew meaning of the name Myra for a girl : Seadew
• Biblical meaning of the name Myra for a girl : I flow, pour out, weep
• Sanskrit meaning of the name Myra for a girl : Beloved, Favorable, Admirable.
• Japanese Kanji meaning of the name Maira 舞良: 舞 means "dance."　良 means "good."

Distribution

The table below provides a detailed overview of the popularity of the female name Myra and variants of this in some of the countries where statistics are available.

People

Actresses

• Myra Turley, American actress
• Myra Keaton (1877–1955), American actress
• Myra Hemmings (1895–1968), American actress
• Myra Carter (1930–2016), American actress
• Myra De Groot (1937–1988), British actress
• Myra Frances (1943–2021), British actress
• Myra McFadyen (1956–2024), Scottish actress
• Myra Singh Indian child actress

Musicians

• Myra Melford (born 1957), American jazz pianist and composer
• Myra Taylor (singer) (1917-2011), American jazz singer and songwriter
• Myra Hess (1890–1965), British pianist
• Myra Maimoh (born 1982), Cameroon singer
• Myra Merritt, American operatic soprano
• Myra Molloy (born 1997), Thai singer-songwriter and actress
• Myra Mortimer (1894–1972), American contralto
• Myra Brooks Turner (1936-2017), American composer and music educator
• Myra Barnes, the birth name of Vicki Anderson (1939–2023), American soul singer

Politics

• Myra Barry (born 1957), Irish Fine Gael politician
• Myra Jehlen, American Board of Governors Professor of English at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey
• Myra Virginia Simmons (1880-1965), American suffragist
• Myra Freeman (born 1949), Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
• Myra Ndjoku Manianga, Congo politician
• Myra McDaniel (1932-2010), the first African American to be the Secretary of State of Texas
• Myra Tanner Weiss (1917–1997), American Trotskyist
• Myra Crownover (born 1947), American politician
• Myra C. Selby (born 1955), American former nominee to be a United States Circuit Judge
• Myra Wolfgang (1914-1976), American labor leader and women's rights activist between the 1930s and 1970s
• Myra Sadd Brown (1872-1938), British campaigner for women's rights, an activist and internationalist
• Myra Curtis (1886–1971), British civil servant

Sports

• Myra Moller (born 1984), New Zealander cyclist
• Myra Wood, American lawn bowls international
• Myra Lakdawala, American-born former athlete for Pakistan
• Myra Nimmo (born 1954), Scottish athlete and academic
• Myra Blackwelder (born 1955), American professional golfer

Writers

• Myra Schneider (born 1936), British poet
• Myra Sklarew (1934–2024), American poet, teacher and biologist
• Myra Morris (1893–1966), Australian poet, novelist, and writer for children
• Myra Taylor (scriptwriter) (1934–2012), British television scriptwriter
• Myra MacPherson (1934–2026), American journalist, author and biographer
• Myra Kelly (1875–1910), Irish-American author and schoolteacher
• Myra Nye (1875–1955), American writer
• Myra Bairstow, American writer
• Myra Bradwell (1831–1894), American publisher and political activist
• Myra Douglas (1844–?), American writer, poet
• Myra Sajid (born Sajid Zaki), Pakistani dramatist, playwright and scriptwriter
• Myra Orth (1934–2002), American art historian
• Myra Belle Martin (1861–?), American teacher, writer, and financier
• Myra Bradwell Helmer Pritchard (1889–1947), American writer and golfer
• Myra Gale Brown (born 1944), American author
• Myra Roper (1911–2002), British-born Australian author and broadcaster

Other

• Myra MacDonald, Scottish journalist
• Myra Louise Bunce (1854–1919), English designer and painter
• Myra Bennett (1890–1990), British celebrated nurse
• Myra Albert Wiggins (1869–1956), American painter and pictorial photographer who became a member of the important early 20th century Photo-Secession movement
• Myra Kukiiyaut (1929–2006), Inuk artist
• Myra Landau (1926–2018), Romanian-born artist and abstract painter
• Myra Juliet Farrell (1878–1957), Australian visionary, inventor and artist
• Myra Louise Taylor (1881–1939), British nursing superintendent
• Myra English (1933–2001), Hawaiian entertainer and celebrity tourism promoter
• Myra Hindley (1942–2002), English serial killer, known as one of the perpetrators of the Moors murders
• Myra Wilson, British computer scientist
• Myra Soble (1904–1992), Russian spy
• Myra Marx Ferree (born 1949), former professor of sociology and director of the Center for German and European Studies
• Myra Hart, founder of Staples Inc.
• Myra Kinch (1904–1981), American dancer
• Myra Knox (1853–1915), Canadian-born American physician
• Myra Kraft (1942–2011), American philanthropist
• Myra Shackley (born 1949), British professor
• Myra Reynolds (1853–1936), American literary scholar
• Myra Reynolds Richards (1882–1934), American sculptor and teacher
• Myra Sidharta (born 1927), Chinese psychologist
• Myra B. Spafard (1864–1940), American artist
• Myra Clark Gaines (1804–1885), American socialite and plaintiff
• Myra Kingman (1873–1922), American journalist
• Myra Smith Kearse (1899–1982), American physician and community leader in New Jersey
• Myra Adele Logan (1908–1977), American physician, surgeon and anatomist who was the first woman to perform open heart surgery
• Myra Butter (1925–2022), British aristocrat and thoroughbred racehorse owner
• Myra Greene is an American photographer

Fictional characters

• Myra, a minor character in the Divergent books
• Myra Booth, a character in TV series Coronation Street
• Myra Breckinridge, the name of the main character and 1968 novel by Gore Vidal
• Myra Bruhl, a character in the play Deathtrap and in the film version with the same name
• Myra Castellanos, a character in the video game series The Evil Within
• Myra Driscoll Henshawe, a character in the 1926 novel My Mortal Enemy by Willa Carther
• Myra Licht, a character in the BBC comedy series Episodes
• Myra McQueen, a character in TV series Hollyoaks
• Myra Menke, a character in the book Holes by Louis Sachar
• Myra Monkhouse, a character in TV series Family Matters
• Myra Santelli, from the 2012 movie Girl vs. Monster
• Myra Sokolov, a character in the animated series Totally Spies!

See also

• Myra (disambiguation)

References

1. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 199. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.