Thoughts on Lyra?

[Livingbysea]

Hi everyone,

im due to have a baby girl in 3 weeks and my husband and I still can’t decide on a name!! My first choice was Ada which he has gone off and his faves are Jasmine and Isabelle neither of which I would choose as I know a few of each!

we both like Lyla but he suggested Lyra today and I like it! We are thinking of Lyra Grace Elliot. I haven’t heard the name much and it’s not that common. Anyone have any thoughts on the combo I have put above?

many thanks!

This is my take as well.
But I don't think it is nearly such a strong identification as Hermione.

problem is, if you suggest Lila as a name someone will come along and say it sounds like Lilo 🤣

If you both like the names you chose, then that's what you choose, fun though it is to have a debate over it on here.
If it bothers you that pp have slammed Grace as too often used, there are plenty of one syllable names to choose from.
How often are middle names used anyway?
Unless Lyra chooses it professionally some day?
Lyra is likely not going to be shortened and is easy for to spell and pronounce.
The best reason for choosing Lyra is that you love the name!

It's lovely, it's popular but if that doesn't bother you go for it! My neice is lyra and she's 18 now and she loves her name

The Lyra in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is called that because it sounds a bit like liar and the character is very good at lying. She's a fab character, and only lies for good reasons, but that may be a consideration. It is a very pretty name though and I don't see the problem pairing with your surname but I suspect it may be an accent issue for some people.

I like Lyra but agree you need a different middle name - one that ends in a consonant so you don't get the Rerelliot!

Perhaps Lyra Jane Elliot?

@reddingweddy , it doesn't matter what the middle name is, they're rarely used. How many people do you refer to by their full name?

It popped into your heads for a reason! Use it, it's beautiful.

Not to my personal taste as it makes me think of Lycra but it seems to have grown lots in popularity recently so a lot of people must love it, so sure there wouldn't be any issues using it.

If name popularity bothers you, you may want to reconsider as it is a top 100 name and growing in recent years, same with Grace as a middle name being extremely popular! You are likely to come across others with the same name, some people are fine with that and like it but just something to consider.

It didn't increase in popularity between 2022 and 2023
Babies called Lyra in England & Wales since 1996 (darkgreener.com)

Northern Lights came out in 1995, The Golden Compass film came out in 2007, and the His Dark Materials was televised in 2019, which might explain the surge in popularity.

It's a bit close to Myra for my liking.