Lydia
Top 1000
About Lydia
Lydia is one of the first place names, after an area of Asia Minor whose inhabitants are credited with strong musical talent great wealth. Always among the US Top 1000 girl names, Lydia is a quietly fashionable classic.
Although mentioned in the New Testament (Lydia was the first European convert of Saint Paul), it didn't really emerge as a viable first name until the eighteenth century, promoted via the character of Lydia Languish in Sheridan's popular 1775 play The Rivals, and the youngest of the Bennett girls in Pride and Prejudice.
Lydia continued to be a literary favorite, found in the novels of George Eliot and D. H. Lawrence. And there's also the iconic Groucho Marx ditty: "Lydia the Tattooed Lady."
Lydia is increasingly appreciated for its history and haunting quality. Cute nickname: Liddy or Lydie.
As of October 2026, Lydia ranked #92 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #75 in 1883, Nameberry popularity #68.
Editor's take: The name Lydia is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "woman from Lydia".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #84 | 3,652 | 2,044.4 |
| 2015 | #80 | 3,512 | 1,967.4 |
| 2016 | #80 | 3,622 | 2,044 |
| 2017 | #85 | 3,339 | 1,934 |
| 2018 | #89 | 3,212 | 1,888.2 |
| 2019 | #94 | 3,014 | 1,795.8 |
| 2020 | #95 | 2,803 | 1,733.9 |
| 2021 | #89 | 2,931 | 1,786.3 |
| 2022 | #93 | 2,815 | 1,716.3 |
| 2023 | #95 | 2,729 | 1,700.8 |
| 2024 | #97 | 2,663 | 1,643.6 |
| 2025 | #92 | 2,692 | 1,674.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Lydia.
- Vivian
- Cecilia
- Juliet
- Lillian
- Felicity
- Celia
- Rosalie
- Madeleine
- Vivienne
- Emmeline
- Fiona
- Genevieve
- Eliza
- Audrey
- Naomi
- Elise
- Josephine
- Juliette
- Madeline
- Lucia
Lydia on lists
Famous Lydias
- Lydia Huallas
Bolivian mountaineer
- Lydia of Thyatira
first European convert to Christianity
- Lydia Cornell
American actress
- Lydia Night
lead singer of rock band The Regrettes
- Lydia Marie Hearst
Shaw, American actress, model, and heiress
- Lydia Estes Pinkham
American entrepreneur
- Lydia Jackson
birth name of Lidian Emerson, wife of Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Lydia Millet
American novelist
- Lydia Field Emmet
American painter
- Lydia Dmitrievna Gromyko
wife of Soviet leader Andrey Gromyko
- Lydia Maria Frances Child
American abolitionist and feminist
- Lydia Taft
first woman to legally vote in the U.S.
- Lydia Lassila
Australian Olympic freestyle skier
- Lydia Davis
American novelist
- Lydia Gibson
American illustrator
- Lydia Shackleton
Irish botanical artist
- Lydia Welti
Escher, Swiss arts patron
- Lydia Marie Mackay
American actress
- Lydia Shum
Hong Kong comedienne
- Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch)
American musician
- Lydia Schenardi
French MEP
- Lydia Grace Yilkari Williams
Australian soccer player
- Lydia Campbell
daughter of actor Larry Joe Campbell
Lydia in pop culture
- Lydia
a housecarl of Whiterun and follower/companion in the video game Skyrim by Bethesda.
- Countess Lydia Ivanovna
character in Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina"
- Lydia Macmillan
main character in 1941 movie "Lydia"
- Lydia Deetz
character in movie "Beetlejuice"
- Lydia Bennet
character in Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice
- Lydia McBride Steed
character in Gerald N. Lund's The Work and the Glory
- Lydia Martin
character on TV's "Teen Wolf"
- Lydia Branwell
Character on Freeform's 'Shadowhunters'
- Lydia Parkington
mother of American Girl character Samantha; Samantha's doll's name
- Lydia Hart
character on British soap "Hollyoaks"
- Lydia Goldblatt
character in "The Popularity Papers"
- Lydia Hillard
eldest daughter in movie "Mrs Doubtfire"
- Lydia Rodarte
Quayle, character on TV's 'Breaking Bad'
- Lydia Bob Scott
daugther to Nathan and Haley on TV's "One Tree Hill"
- Lydia Constantine
character on TV's "American Gothic"
- Lydia
villain in animated film "Barbie; the Diamond Castle"
- Lydia Amelia Pierce
main character in the Dear America book "Like the Willow Tree
- Lydia Pieman
character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
- Lydia Copperbottom
character in the movie "Robots"
- Lydia Hall
character on ABC's "Quantico"
- "Lydia the Tattooed Lady"
popular song by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg
- "Lydia"
song by Highly Suspect
- Lydia Boyle
character in video game "Dishonored"
- Lydia Frye
character in video game"Assassin's Creed Syndicate"
- Lydia Riera
character in Netflix's original series "One Day at a Time"
- Lydia Lee
character in Celeste Ng's "Everything I Never Told You"
- Aunt Lydia
character in the book and TV series "The Handmaid's tale"
Variations & nicknames
- LidijaRussian
- LidaRussian
- LydieRussian
- LidiyaRussian
- LidiaRussian