Myrna
Myrna was last recorded in 2024, when 8 babies were given it; 31,742 Americans have been recorded with it between 1885 and 2024 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 15,700 Americans named Myrna and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (50% of everyone recorded); the median is 74 years old and half are between 61 and 85.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Myrna by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Myrna mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Myrna is “a female given name from Irish.” Its etymology gives the sense “beloved” (Muirne).
An anglicization of Irish Muirne (“beloved”). Popularized by the American actress Myrna Loy.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Myrna?
Unranked in 2025
Its last girls’ rank on record is #11,834, in 2024; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
1,808 babies in 1938, the peak
Myrna peaked in 1938, when 1,808 babies were given it (1,801 girls, #134 among girls’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 8 | #11,834 | under 0.01 |
| 2023 | 11 | #9,413 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 11 | #9,466 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 11 | #9,363 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 17 | #6,830 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 19 | #6,347 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 16 | #7,315 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 14 | #8,157 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 16 | #7,500 | 0.01 |
| 2015 | 14 | #8,301 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (139)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 15 | #7,951 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 22 | #5,949 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 22 | #6,051 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 19 | #6,772 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 17 | #7,415 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 23 | #6,033 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 25 | #5,697 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 19 | #7,008 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 29 | #4,915 | 0.02 |
| 2005 | 32 | #4,334 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 33 | #4,244 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 33 | #4,084 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 37 | #3,636 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 33 | #3,915 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 37 | #3,567 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 41 | #3,168 | 0.02 |
| 1998 | 39 | #3,202 | 0.02 |
| 1997 | 34 | #3,419 | 0.02 |
| 1996 | 49 | #2,578 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 43 | #2,826 | 0.02 |
| 1994 | 54 | #2,394 | 0.03 |
| 1993 | 51 | #2,475 | 0.03 |
| 1992 | 62 | #2,170 | 0.03 |
| 1991 | 72 | #1,944 | 0.04 |
| 1990 | 62 | #2,116 | 0.03 |
| 1989 | 62 | #2,035 | 0.03 |
| 1988 | 73 | #1,748 | 0.04 |
| 1987 | 63 | #1,849 | 0.04 |
| 1986 | 66 | #1,761 | 0.04 |
| 1985 | 69 | #1,688 | 0.04 |
| 1984 | 80 | #1,456 | 0.05 |
| 1983 | 81 | #1,442 | 0.05 |
| 1982 | 96 | #1,316 | 0.06 |
| 1981 | 87 | #1,416 | 0.05 |
| 1980 | 110 | #1,202 | 0.07 |
| 1979 | 100 | #1,277 | 0.06 |
| 1978 | 104 | #1,208 | 0.07 |
| 1977 | 130 | #1,029 | 0.08 |
| 1976 | 134 | #955 | 0.09 |
| 1975 | 125 | #987 | 0.09 |
| 1974 | 169 | #802 | 0.12 |
| 1973 | 127 | #953 | 0.09 |
| 1972 | 149 | #866 | 0.10 |
| 1971 | 164 | #838 | 0.10 |
| 1970 | 159 | #851 | 0.09 |
| 1969 | 187 | #742 | 0.11 |
| 1968 | 158 | #803 | 0.10 |
| 1967 | 192 | #705 | 0.12 |
| 1966 | 207 | #677 | 0.12 |
| 1965 | 234 | #641 | 0.13 |
| 1964 | 291 | #579 | 0.15 |
| 1963 | 306 | #560 | 0.16 |
| 1962 | 335 | #534 | 0.17 |
| 1961 | 347 | #523 | 0.17 |
| 1960 | 373 | #504 | 0.18 |
| 1959 | 403 | #482 | 0.20 |
| 1958 | 411 | #470 | 0.20 |
| 1957 | 431 | #457 | 0.21 |
| 1956 | 452 | #429 | 0.23 |
| 1955 | 429 | #427 | 0.22 |
| 1954 | 384 | #448 | 0.20 |
| 1953 | 388 | #439 | 0.21 |
| 1952 | 362 | #452 | 0.20 |
| 1951 | 478 | #370 | 0.27 |
| 1950 | 448 | #380 | 0.26 |
| 1949 | 422 | #382 | 0.25 |
| 1948 | 493 | #349 | 0.29 |
| 1947 | 646 | #308 | 0.36 |
| 1946 | 620 | #292 | 0.39 |
| 1945 | 568 | #291 | 0.43 |
| 1944 | 635 | #277 | 0.48 |
| 1943 | 839 | #234 | 0.60 |
| 1942 | 1,104 | #190 | 0.82 |
| 1941 | 1,371 | #161 | 1.1 |
| 1940 | 1,471 | #150 | 1.3 |
| 1939 | 1,600 | #144 | 1.5 |
| 1938 | 1,801 | #134 | 1.6 |
| 1937 | 1,652 | #137 | 1.6 |
| 1936 | 1,396 | #149 | 1.3 |
| 1935 | 1,059 | #176 | 1.0 |
| 1934 | 836 | #211 | 0.80 |
| 1933 | 571 | #254 | 0.57 |
| 1932 | 422 | #307 | 0.40 |
| 1931 | 415 | #314 | 0.39 |
| 1930 | 483 | #303 | 0.43 |
| 1929 | 429 | #317 | 0.38 |
| 1928 | 335 | #373 | 0.29 |
| 1927 | 203 | #490 | 0.17 |
| 1926 | 157 | #569 | 0.13 |
| 1925 | 136 | #629 | 0.11 |
| 1924 | 129 | #659 | 0.10 |
| 1923 | 131 | #646 | 0.11 |
| 1922 | 144 | #602 | 0.12 |
| 1921 | 139 | #627 | 0.11 |
| 1920 | 134 | #619 | 0.11 |
| 1919 | 152 | #561 | 0.13 |
| 1918 | 132 | #616 | 0.11 |
| 1917 | 115 | #636 | 0.11 |
| 1916 | 153 | #537 | 0.15 |
| 1915 | 128 | #572 | 0.13 |
| 1914 | 94 | #587 | 0.12 |
| 1913 | 62 | #664 | 0.10 |
| 1912 | 42 | #777 | 0.08 |
| 1911 | 61 | #540 | 0.15 |
| 1910 | 28 | #826 | 0.07 |
| 1909 | 24 | #839 | 0.07 |
| 1908 | 41 | #588 | 0.12 |
| 1907 | 21 | #830 | 0.07 |
| 1906 | 25 | #740 | 0.08 |
| 1905 | 20 | #840 | 0.07 |
| 1904 | 21 | #798 | 0.08 |
| 1903 | 22 | #726 | 0.08 |
| 1902 | 20 | #788 | 0.08 |
| 1901 | 22 | #695 | 0.09 |
| 1900 | 30 | #653 | 0.10 |
| 1899 | 15 | #864 | 0.06 |
| 1898 | 14 | #950 | 0.05 |
| 1897 | 14 | #887 | 0.06 |
| 1896 | 15 | #864 | 0.06 |
| 1895 | 11 | #1,034 | 0.05 |
| 1894 | 14 | #838 | 0.06 |
| 1893 | 8 | #1,143 | 0.04 |
| 1892 | 5 | #1,591 | 0.02 |
| 1891 | 8 | #1,069 | 0.04 |
| 1890 | 8 | #1,070 | 0.04 |
| 1889 | 5 | #1,423 | 0.03 |
| 1888 | 8 | #1,006 | 0.04 |
| 1887 | 6 | #1,116 | 0.04 |
| 1885 | 11 | #682 | 0.08 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Myrna a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Myrna has been given almost only to girls: 42 boys in 139 years of records.
Girls and boys named Myrna: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Myrna, and how old are they?
15,700 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 50% of the 31,742 Americans ever recorded as Myrna. The median Myrna alive today is 74 years old; half are between 61 and 85.
The 2020 Census counted 29,441 people named Myrna (29,411 women and girls, 30 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 19,563 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.5 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 5,670 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 6,100 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,260 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,040 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 468 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 173 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Myrna born?
The states with the most babies named Myrna are New York, California and Texas, with 31% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 3,698 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| California | 2,863 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Texas | 1,930 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 1,768 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 1,307 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Ohio | 1,107 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Iowa | 1,022 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Michigan | 996 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Minnesota | 862 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Washington | 720 | not ranked | 1.6× |
Where Myrna is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Myrna is most over-represented in Montana: since 1910 it was given 3.0 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Myrna with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 36,150 babies since 1880, Myrna is the most given (88% of them). In 2025 none of their 40 babies recorded by SSA was a Myrna (SSA lists a name only with 5 or more babies of one sex).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Myrna
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Myrna and names like it
- Compare Myrna and MirnaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sMyrna peaked in 1938.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Myrna since 1910.
- Irish namesWiktionary’s origin for Myrna: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1938The year the most babies were named Myrna.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Myrna alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with MMost given first.