Possibly coined by poet Fulke Greville; linked to Greek 'myrrha' meaning myrrh.
Myra is a name with more than one possible origin, which is part of its fascination. In English literary history, it is often linked to the poet Fulke Greville, who seems to have used Myra as a poetic name in the late sixteenth century, perhaps inspired by classical forms or by adaptation from names such as Mira. It may also connect to the Greek-rooted Mira, meaning “wonderful” or “admirable” in later interpretation, or to the place-name Myra, the ancient Lycian city associated with Saint Nicholas.
Because these paths converge, Myra feels both literary and antique, though its exact earliest source remains somewhat elusive. The name appears across several cultural registers. In Victorian Britain and America, Myra had real popularity, aided by its soft elegance and the era’s love of poetic-sounding girls’ names.
It also appears in literature, most notably in Willa Cather’s My Antonia through the character Myra Henshawe in another work, and in various nineteenth-century novels where it tends to suggest refinement or emotional sensitivity. The Saint Nicholas connection gives it an indirect Christian resonance, though that is not the association most modern listeners hear first. In usage, Myra has risen and fallen dramatically.
Once fashionable, it later came to seem old-fashioned, then rare, and now is sometimes rediscovered by parents seeking a vintage name that is recognizable but uncommon. Its sound is simple, but its atmosphere is layered: gentle, bookish, and faintly luminous. Myra has never been as continuously dominant as names like Mary or Anna, yet that very intermittence gives it a special charm. It feels like a name recovered from a shelf of old novels and made bright again.