The baby name Mira blends effortless international style with a pop culture boost.
Thanks to Kari for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME MIRA MEAN?
Mira offers a truly pan-global pedigree.
- First, mir means peace in Slavic languages. (Think of the Russian space station.) Longer names like Miroslava shorten to Mira, though it also stands on its own.
- Then there’s a Sanskrit version of the word, meaning ocean. Princess Mira – or Meera – lived in the sixteenth century. She wrote bhajans – sacred songs – devoted to Lord Krishna. She’s remains an important figure in Hinduism.
- In Hebrew, Meir and Meiramean light. The pronunciation is likely a little bit different, with both the “e” and “i” pronounced.
- Fulke Greville wrote a poem to Myra in the seventeenth century. Fragrant myrrh likely inspired the character’s name.
- This would track with another possible reason for Myra’s use: a feminine form of Myron, which comes from myrrh.
- Myra is also a re-arranging of the letters in evergreen girls’ name Mary, and might be a short form of Miriam and similar names.
- It is tempting to link Mira to the Latin word miraculum – the source of our word miracle – or mirus and mirabilis – wonderful. Names like Miranda and Mirabelle could be cousins.
All of this makes the baby name Mira infinitely flexible.
MIRA IN THE NIGHT SKY
In 1662, astronomer Johannes Hevelius was thinking of the Latin root when he named a star Mira. Part of the constellation Cetus, Mira is a variable star, meaning it disappears for months at a time.
Cetus is a sea monster – possibly a whale. The star Mira appears to worn on the beast’s collar, almost as a necklace.
MIRA AND MYRA IN THE 20TH & 21ST CENTURIES
Alternative spelling Myra shares the same roots as the baby name Mira.
Gore Vidal’s 1968 bestselling novel Myra Breckenridge might be familiar. A film adaptation followed in 1970, starring Raquel Welch in the title role. Scandalous in its day, it’s the story of Myra – born Myron.
There’s also Mira Sorvino. The actress scored an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1995’s Mighty Aphrodite.
Disney animated series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, a Toy Story spin-off, included a princess called Mira Nova. Between 2020 and 2022, Disney Junior animated series Mira, Royal Detective, followed the adventures of a young girl assigned to solve mysteries in the kingdom of Jalpur, a fictional kingdom resembling India.
And then there’s 2025 animated smash hit KPop Demon Hunters. The story of a girl group who also saves the world, it centers on singer Rumi, as well as the other members of Huntr/x, Zoey and Mira. Mira is known as the most talented dancer of the three. Her singing voice is provided by Audrey Nuna.
Based on the movie’s runaway popularity, odds are strong that the baby name Mira will rise in use.
Worth noting: not everyone pronounces Mira and Myra the same way. Mira is often said “meer” while Myra sounds like “my” and rhymes with “rye.”
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME MIRA?
In recent years, the baby name Mira sometimes came up as an alternative to Top Ten Mia and popular chocies like Mila and Maya.
As of 2024, the baby name Mira ranked #380 for girls in the US – a new high.
Myra came in at #646. It’s the slightly more old-fashioned option by current standards.
If you’re after a name that feels effortlessly international and nicely on-trend, the baby name Mira might belong on your list.
What do you think of the baby name Mira?
This post was first published on May 7, 2013, this post was revised on January 27, 2026.
yes, in Spanish is the word to say to someone “look!”
Hi,
I saw this when looking up the origin of the star named Mira as my 10 yr. old son is into astronomy, and my his sister, my 13 yr. old is named Mira. She was born in 2001 and I named her Mira Rose, besides just being a beautiful combination, Rose is after my mother, Rosemary, and also her Great grandmother Rose. At the time I chose it because I was looking for something different and was reading a name book popularized by Oprah, and saw it was short for the Hebrew “Miriam.” After people heard her name I got comments from people from India about their saint Meera, and that Mira was “look” in Spanish. Over time I heard it hear and there associated with Jewish and Eastern European origins. Frequently it was mispronounced Myra, which I didn’t care for – sounds old fashioned, no offense to fans of that name.
We named our February baby Mira Athena! Several of the girls in my husband’s family are named after stars, and my own grandmother was Estella (pitched and vetoed), and Mira felt right, feminine yet strong. I also liked ties to “light” in Hebrew, and peace. I have noticed a few websites list the Hebrew meaning as “bitter,” shouldn’t that be Mara? Also, we live in a high Spanish-speaking population, and it did give us pause, but ultimately it was the name we kept coming back to. I remember finding your website while pregnant and loving it, but wishing you had written about Mira so I could see what you found!
Mira Athena is SUCH a lovely name! And the idea of being named after stars is charming …
Hi! Mira is my favorite name and the front runner for my daughter due in August. Do you find that people want to pronounce it Myra, or that you have to spell it a lot? That is the only thing giving me pause. It’s a beautiful name!