Kira is a mostly feminine name of multiple origins and meanings.

Etymology

The feminine form is pronounced or . It might be a feminine form of the name Kiran, pronounced . Kiran is of Hindi and Sanskrit origin, meaning "beam of light". In Ancient Hebrew "Keren" means both "a horn" and "a beam of light". Besides Sanskrit and Hebrew there might be other etymologies from Egyptian, where the word Ki-Ra means "like Ra", or Persian. Due to the Greek interpretation of the Persian king's name Kourosh (کوروش, ''Kūrosh'') as Κύρος (''Kýros'') – which was obviously modeled after the Greek word κύριος (''kýrios'' "lord"), the feminine form being κυρία (''kyría'') – Kyra (or Kira) can also be understood as a variant. Therefore, it is also in use as a feminine form of the Greek diminutive form

Cyril Cyril (also Cyrillus or Cyryl) is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Greek language, Greek name (''Kýrillos''), meaning 'lordly, masterful', which in turn derives from Greek (''kýrios'') 'lord'. There are various variant forms of t ...

. In Russian, Kira () is the feminine form of the masculine name Kir, meaning "mistress, ruler", but can be translated to "leader of the people", "one the people look to" or "beloved". Kira could also have arrived into Russian from the Persian-Greek name Kyra. Kira can also be the

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

of the old and rare masculine given name Avvakir. Kira is one of several Anglicized forms of the Irish name

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, ''Goodies ...

, which in Irish means "dark haired" or "little dark one". Kira also means "strong woman" in Slavonic. There is also a Japanese name, romanized as ''Kira'', which is common in Japan, as both given name and family name (e.g. the Kira clan of Mikawa province). ''Kira kira'' also means "glittery, shiny" in Japanese. Variant forms include Kaira, Keera, Keira, Kiera, Kyra, Kyrah, Kyreena, Kyrha, Kyria, Kyrie, Kyrene, Kyrra and Kirra.

People

Kira Balinger Kira Marie Pacifico Balinger (born August 3, 2000) is a Filipino actress, commercial model, endorser and performer. She is best-known for her portrayals in ''Ang sa Iyo ay Akin'' and ''Darna''. Early life Kira Marie Pacifico Balinger was bo ...

(born 2000), Filipino actress, model, endorser and performer * Kira Banasińska (1899-2002), Polish humanitarian * Kira Bilecky (born 1986), American-Peruvian footballer * Kira Bousloff (1914-2001), Russian-Australian dancer * Kira Brunton (born 1999), Canadian curler *

Kira Buckland Kira Buckland (born July 16, 1987) is an American voice actress who has provided voices for English dubbed Japanese anime, cartoons, and video games. Some of her major roles are Jolyne Cujoh in '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean,'' 2B in ...

(born 1987), American voice actress * Kira Bulten (born 1973), Dutch Olympic swimmer * Kira Bursky, American filmmaker * Kira Carstensen, American documentary filmmaker * Kira Chathli (born 1999), English cricketer * Kira Chikazane (1563-1588), Japanese senior retainer * Kira Cochrane (born 1977), British journalist * Kira Davis, American film producer *

Kira Danganan-Azucena Kira Christianne Danganan-Azucena is a Filipina diplomat. She is the Assistant Secretary for the United Nations and Other International Organizations at the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines. She had served as Charg ...

, Filipino diplomat * Kira Dikhtyar, American fashion model *

Kira Eggers Kira Eggers (born November 29, 1974) is a former model with an international career. She worked for Playboy TV, The Sun and other firms. Eggers is former guest editor for FHM. In 2006 her memoir, ''The Naked Truth'', was published by Aschenhoug. ...

(born 1974), Danish model * Kira Geil (born 1985), Austrian ice dancer * Kira Golovko (1919–2017), Russian actress * Kira Nam Greene, Korean-American painter * Kira Grünberg (born 1993), Austrian politician * Kira Hagi (born 1996), Romanian actress * Kira Hall (born 1962), American anthropologist * Kira Lynn Harris (born 1963), American artist * Kira Henehan (born 1974), American author * Kira Holmes, Australian cricketer * Kira Horn (born 1995), German field hockey player * Kira Hurley (born 1986), Canadian professional ice hockey player * Kira Inugami, Japanese manga artist * Kira Isabella (born 1993), Canadian country music artist * Kira Ivanova (1963–2001), Russian figure skater * Kira Jääskeläinen (born 1979), Finnish-Polish film director *

Kira Kattenbeck Kira Kattenbeck (born 2 August 1992) is a German badminton player. She started playing badminton at aged 8 in Emsdetten, and joined Germany national badminton team in 2011. In 2011, she won gold medal at the European Junior Badminton Championship ...

(born 1992), German badminton player *

Kira Kazantsev Kira Dixon (née Kazantsev; born July 20, 1991) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss America 2015 on September 14, 2014. She is the third consecutive Miss America winner from New York and had won the title of Miss New York on ...

(born 1991), Russian-American beauty queen *

Kira Kelly Kira Kelly is an American cinematographer. She is perhaps best known for her work on ''13th'', which earned her an Emmy Award nomination, and the cable series ''Queen Sugar''. Career Kelly is a graduate of Northwestern University with a major in ...

, American cinematographer *

Kiira Korpi Kiira Linda Katriina Korpi (; born 26 September 1988) is a Finnish figure skater. She is a three-time European Figure Skating Championships, European medalist (bronze in 2007 European Figure Skating Championships, 2007 and 2011 European Figure Ska ...

, Finnish figure skater (Kiira is a Finnish variant of the name) *

Kira Kosarin Kira Nicole Kosarin (born October 7, 1997) is an American actress and singer, known for her role as Phoebe Thunderman on the Nickelodeon series '' The Thundermans''. On April 10, 2019, she independently released her debut album, ''Off Brand'', l ...

(born 1997), American actress * Kira Kovalenko (born 1989), Russian film director * Kira Kreylis-Petrova (1931–2021), Russian theater actress *

Kira Lewis Jr. Kira Aundrea Lewis Jr. ( ; born April 6, 2001) is an American professional basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete ...

(born 2001), American basketball player * Kira Lipperheide (born 2000), German bobsledder * Kira Makarova, Estonian-American researcher * Kira Maria, Bulgarian empress consort * Kira Matsutani, Japanese kickboxer *

Kira Miró Kira García-Beltrán Miró (born 13 March 1980) is a Spanish actress and television presenter. Life and career Kira García-Beltrán Miró was born on 13 March 1980 in Santa Brígida, island of Gran Canaria. The second of three siblings, ...

(born 1980), Spanish actress and a presenter * Kira Mozgalova (born 1982), Russian Olympic athlete * Kira Muratova (1934–2018), Soviet and Ukrainian film director, screenwriter, and actress *

Kira Nagy Kira Nagy (born 29 December 1977) is a former tennis player from Hungary. During her professional years, she won 18 singles and ten doubles titles at tournaments of the ITF Women's Circuit. Kira won her first match on the WTA Tour in 2007 at th ...

(born 1977), Hungarian tennis player * Kira Narayanan (born 1994), Indian film actress * Kira Obolensky, American playwright and author *

Kira O'Reilly Kira O'Reilly is a performance artist based in the UK. She graduated from Cardiff School of Art in 1998, and has participated in a number of performance art festivals throughout the UK and Europe, including at the Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Tre ...

, British performance artist * Kira Pavlova (born 2004), Russian tennis player *

Kira Peikoff Kira Lily Peikoff (; born May 21, 1985) is a journalist and novelist, based in New York City."About the Author"< ...

(born 1985), American journalist *

Kira Marie Peter-Hansen Kira Marie Peter-Hansen (born 23 February 1998) is a Danish politician. She is a Green Left (part of the Greens–European Free Alliance group) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) elected in 2019 and 2024. In the 2024 election, she was the ...

(born 1998), Danish politician * Kira Phillips (born 1995), Australian rules footballer *

Kira Peikoff Kira Lily Peikoff (; born May 21, 1985) is a journalist and novelist, based in New York City."About the Author"< ...

(born 1985), American journalist and novelist *

Kira Plastinina Kira Plastinina () is a Russian fashion designer and entrepreneur. Her brand was sold through a now defunct chain of eponymous retail stores in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, China, Philippines and Armenia. Plastinina was born in Moscow. ...

(born 1992), Russian fashion designer * Kira Poutanen (born 1974), Finnish writer and actress * Kira Borisovna Povarova (born 1933), Russian professor *

Kira Puru Kira Puru is a gender-fluid Australian musician. She is of Maori descent, her father being from the Tainui tribe, and grew up in Cardiff, New South Wales, near Newcastle. Puru has been described as "Señorita, swagger and a troublemaker" by T ...

, Australian musician * Kira Radinsky (born 1986), Israeli computer scientist * Kira Reed (born 1971), American actress * Kira Roessler (born 1962), American musician * Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (1909–1967), Russian grand duchess * Kira Rudik (born 1985), Ukrainian politician * Princess Kira of Prussia (1943–2004) * Kira Sabin (born 1998/1999), American wildlife painter * Kira Salak (born 1971), American writer * Kira Shashkina, Russian pianist * Kira Shyrykina, Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast * Kira Simon-Kennedy, American film producer * Kira Skov (born 1976), Danish singer * Kira Soltanovich (born 1973), Ukrainian comedian * Kira Stepanova (born 1993), Russian Olympic athlete * Kira Sugiyama (1910–1988), Japanese photographer * Kira Thurman, African-American historian *

Kira Toussaint Kira Marije Toussaint (born 22 May 1994) is a retired Dutch competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer who specialises in backstroke. She is the former List of world records in swimming, world record holder in the Short course (swimming), short course ...

(born 1994), Dutch swimmer * Kira Tozer (born 1984), Canadian voice actress * Kira Trusova (born 1994), Russian handball player *

Kira Vincent-Davis Kira Vincent-Davis is an American voice actress best known for her work in English-language versions of Japanese anime. She voices Lucy/Nyu in ''Elfen Lied'', Anchovy in ''Girls und Panzer'', Izuna Hatsuse in '' No Game No Life'', Ayumu Kasuga i ...

(born 1979), American voice actress *

Kira Walkenhorst Kira Katharina Walkenhorst (born 18 November 1990) is a German retired beach volleyball player who played as a Beach volleyball#Player specializations, blocker. She has an older brother Alexander Walkenhorst who is a professional beach volleyball ...

(born 1990), German beach volleyball player * Kira Weidle (born 1996), German alpine skier * Kira Willey, American musician *

Kira Yarmysh Kira Aleksandrovna Yarmysh (, ; born October 11, 1989) is a Russian public figure and writer. She is the former press secretary and assistant of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the author of the 2020 novel . Biography K ...

(born 1989), Russian writer *

Kira Yoshinaka (October 5, 1641 – January 30, 1703) was a Japanese ''kōke'' (master of ceremonies). His court title was ''Kokushi (officials), Kōzuke no suke (上野介)''. He is famous as the adversary of Asano Naganori in the events of the forty-seven ...

(1641-1703), Japanese politician * Kira Zvorykina (1919–2014), Soviet and Ukrainian chess player

Fictional characters

* Kira Argounova, the protagonist in

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; , 1905March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system which s ...

's ''

We the Living ''We the Living'' is the debut novel of the Russian American novelist Ayn Rand. It is a story of life in Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, post-revolutionary Russia and was Rand's first statement against communism. Rand observes in t ...

'' * Kira Aso, female protagonist in the Japanese manga ''

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

'' * Kira Carsen in the video game '' Star Wars: The Old Republic'' * Kira Daidohji in the video game series ''

Arcana Heart is a 2D arcade game, arcade fighting game series developed by Team Arcana (originally co-owned with its former parent company Examu). The first edition was released to arcades (mostly in Japan, but a few in other countries) in late 2007. The g ...

'' * Kira Finster in the Nickelodeon animated television series ''Rugrats'' and its spin-off ''All Grown Up!'' * Kira Ford (aka Yellow Dino Ranger) in ''Power Rangers: Dino Thunder'' * Kyra Hart in the WB/CW television series ''Reba'', played by Scarlett Pomers * Kira Marlowe in the television drama '' Flashpoint'', constable, Special Response Unit dispatcher, played by

Pascale Hutton Pascale Hutton (born June 14, 1979Pascale Hutton's bio
at www.northernstars.ca) i ...

* Kira Sakuratsuki in the anime ''Futakoi'' * Sumeragi Kira in the anime '' Uta no Prince-Sama'' * Kira Supernova, in the 2013 animated film

Escape from Planet Earth ''Escape from Planet Earth'' is a 2013 animated comedy-adventure science fiction film produced by Rainmaker Entertainment (now Mainframe Studios) and distributed by The Weinstein Company in the United States and Entertainment One in Canada, ...

, voiced by

Sarah Jessica Parker Sarah Jessica Parker (born March 25, 1965) is an American actress and television producer. In a career spanning over five decades, she has performed across several productions of both Sarah Jessica Parker filmography, screen and stage. List o ...

* Kira Tsubasa, in the Japanese multimedia ''

Love Live! School Idol Project is a Japanese multimedia project co-developed by ASCII Media Works' ''Dengeki G's Magazine'', music label Lantis, and animation studio Sunrise. It is the first multimedia project in the ''Love Live!'' franchise. The project revolves aro ...

'' *

Kira Yamato is a fictional character first introduced as the protagonist from the 2002 Japanese anime television series ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'', which was produced by Sunrise (studio), Sunrise as part of the ''Gundam'' franchise. In the series, Kira is ...

in the Japanese anime television series ''

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED is an anime series developed by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fukuda. The ninth installment in the ''Gundam'' franchise, ''Gundam SEED'' takes place in a future calendar era, in this case the Cosmic Era. In this era, mankind has devel ...

'' and ''

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny is an anime television series, a direct sequel to ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'' by Sunrise and the overall tenth installment in the ''Gundam'' franchise. It retains most of the staff from ''Gundam SEED'', including Director Mitsuo Fukuda. S ...

'' * Kira Yoshikage in the Japanese anime television series ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' * Kira Yukimura, one of the main characters in the MTV drama ''Teen Wolf'' * Kira (''Death Note''), alias of the protagonist Light Yagami in the Japanese manga/anime franchise ''Death Note'' * Kira (Gelfling) in the film ''The Dark Crystal'' * Kira (''Iggy Arbuckle''), a anthropomorphic rat in the Canadian animated television series ''Iggy Arbuckle'' * Kira (''Mortal Kombat'') *

Kira Nerys Kira Nerys ( ) is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). She was played by actress Nana Visitor. The character is from the fictional planet Bajor, a world which has ...

in the Star Trek ''Deep Space 9'' television series (family name Kira, given name Nerys) * Kira the Seer in the ''Charmed'' television series universe * Kira, a recurring character and antagonist in season 3 of Disney Channel's ''

Andi Mack ''Andi Mack'' is an American family comedy-drama television series created by Terri Minsky that premiered on Disney Channel on April 7, 2017. It ran for three seasons and 57 episodes, concluding on July 26, 2019. The series stars Peyton Elizab ...

'' * Kira, the main character of the book ''

Gathering Blue ''Gathering Blue'' is a young adult-dystopian novel written by American author Lois Lowry and was published on September 25, 2000. A companion book to ''The Giver'' (1993), it is set in the same future time period and universe, treats some of th ...

'' by Lois Lowry * Kira, daughter of Sarah Manning in the Canadian sci-fi television series ''

Orphan Black ''Orphan Black'' is a Canadian science-fiction thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett and starring Tatiana Maslany. The series focuses on Sarah Manning, one of several genetically identica ...

'' * Kira in the 1980 film '' Xanadu'', played by Olivia Newton-John * Kira Yoshikage, the main antagonist of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: ''

Diamond is Unbreakable is the fourth main story arc of the Japanese manga series ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for a little more than years, from May 4, 1992, to D ...

'' by Hirohiko Araki * Kira Navárez, the main character of the 2020 sci-fi novel '' To Sleep in a Sea of Stars'' * Kira King, one of the main characters of the 2022 Disney+ original movie '' Sneakerella'' * Kira Darvis, daughter of the main character Edgin in the 2023 movie '' Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'' * Kira, fictional super hero, presenter of the children's TV show '' Band Kids'' played by '' Renata Sayuri'' * Kira Bailey,

American Girl American Girl is an American line of dolls released on May 5, 1986, by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to fourteen-year-old girls of various ethnicities, faiths, nationalities, and social classes throughout different time periods ...

character

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kira (Given Name) Belarusian feminine given names English feminine given names Japanese feminine given names Feminine given names Persian feminine given names Russian feminine given names Ukrainian feminine given names

Etymology

People

Fictional characters

See also

References