The name Myra?!

[ValiumSoltera]

The thread about the wisdom of using Jessica and HOlly together got me thinking... although it's a different angle being the murderer rather than a victim, are we nearly ready for Myra?

There are a couple of Lyras out there now (sleb babies mostly I think). Ten years ago Lyra would have been considered unusable due to its similarity to Myra, but now it is just similar to Lila I think.

So how long til Myra is used do you think? (don't mean to offend btw, I'm a name nerd and find this stuff interesting)

Maxine Carr didn't kill anyone ...... anyway to the point, Myra, no not yet I wouldn't think not until everyone who remembers her has gone i'd imagine.

It seems to have developed a slightly haunting 'quality' - i wonder if THAT photograph - hasn't helped as well

If you look on the internet or wiki at other killers - multiple images come up but for Myra just that one - dead eyes staring...

thereisalight I think we must have shared a midwife! There can't be two!

Anyone over 25 will pretty much relate Myra to Hindley I think so another generation to go yet before it's acceptable.

Lyra is much more common these days because of the Philip Pullman books I expect.

I think it is just a very ugly name - which is possibly why it is so rare (and therefore only associated with Hindley) - if she had been called Catherine or something like that, I am sure there wouldn't have been much of a dip.

I know a baby Salome, which I find a strange choice too.

Is there a famous criminal called Salome?

Mary Bell?

I think it must be something to do with how often the name was used before. I doubt Myra was anywhere near as frequently used as the others, hence the stronger association with Hindley not a multitude of people in ordinary life.

The name Adolf has also come pretty much to a full stop.

Underachieving Salome is the name Josephus gave to the unnamed young woman in the Christian NT who asked for the head of John the Baptist. He's not the most reliable source, but it's stuck and thus compared by some to naming a child Jezebel.

Some historians (geeks like me) think the name was used to discredit and disrepute the Queen Salome Alexandra who was well loved, did wonderful things for her people and was in power just before the Romans came to rule the region.

Most names will have positive and negative examples, but culture tends to latch on to one or the other (or stay neutral if there are too many, which is the case for most male names, I think).

I love yhe name Myra, am pg and I am seriously considering it. But I keep going back to the hindley connotations. Think this thread has made me see that everyone else thinks murderer! It's such a lovely name!

I've heard of Myra in Belgium, where there is no connection to Hindley.

I don't know any baby Adolfs, just very old men with the name (born before the 2nd WW)

The name Mary is totally different, it has a very strong Christian history and has been popular for centuries; one bad association will not counteract that.

The same goes for Peter, another very strong Christian name.

InvisiableSoul - what about Mara? far prettier imo.

It would never even cross my mind as a link, maybe because you think of Myra Hindley as 'Myra Hindley', not as 'Myra'.

If I met a child called Myra Smith or something it just wouldn't register.

The closest comparison I could think of was Beverley Allitt, which was much more recent (think she was arrested in the early 90s). Also not a massively common name I don't think - but (aside from the fact it sounds rather dated and probably wouldn't be chosen anyway) would people avoid it because of what one person did?

Well, I think of the late pianist Dame Myra Hess - so I think it's a good name.

I also think that Myra Hindley was a big cultural shock, and is still used as a comparison. You only have to look at coverage of other women who have been involved in child murders and Myra Hindley will be mentioned somewhere.

Also every time Ian Brady, who pops up in the news every so often, is mentioned Myra Hindley is too. And they're even more notorious for having narrowly avoided the death penalty.

Sometimes the comparisons are inevitable - I think there were possibly parallels between her and Maxine Carr although Hindley was by all accounts far more involved (though no-one can say for sure) - but I think Hindley will forever be held up as an example and won't fade from the public conciousness for a while.

I'm sure our shower is a Mira . Potters off to have a look...

I loved the name Rose and would have used it first time had DS been a DD. By the second pregnancy Rose and Fred had happened and it tarnished the name for me. I never think of it when I meet a Rose, and quite happy for other people to use it, but would not myself, even now.

Myra is a hard name anyway, I think

I find Myra quite difficult to say - it seems to come out as mire-ra or my-er-a rather than a simple two-syllable name. Same problem with Lyra, the y and r seems to be an awkward combination. But perhaps that's just me.

Myra is up there with Adolf as far as I'm concerned.

The reason why you still get names like Peter, Ian, Ruth, Rosemary, Mary etc is that these are names that have been established for hundreds of years. As a result, there are many people of note with those names, so people are less likely to think of the killers those names relate to.

Myra however, is a name that stands out more, as it has never been as established/used as widely as the names above. Therefore it's only real association is with Hindley.

I have a Lyra (nrly 8yrs) partly because I love the name Myra but don't think it will be useable for a good decade or more. As someone says, that prison photo is pretty iconic, the name and image are now just locked together in the public psyche.

I agree, Myra is a very harsh sounding name! Love Lyra though! My old shower was Mira Finessa