Kira (given name)

The feminine keria form is pronounced /ˈkɪərə/ KEER-ə or /ˈkiːrə/ KEE-rə. It might be a feminine form of the name Kiran, pronounced /ˈkɪərən/ KEER-ən. 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.^[1] 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.^[2] Therefore, it is also in use as a feminine form of the Greek diminutive form Cyril.

In Russian, Kira (Ки́ра) 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".^[3] Kira could also have arrived into Russian from the Persian-Greek name Kyra. Kira can also be the diminutive of the old and rare masculine given name Avvakir.^[4]

Kira is one of several Anglicized forms of the Irish name Ciara, which in Irish means "dark haired" or "little dark one".^[5]

Kira also means "strong woman" in Slavonic.^[6]

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.^[7]

Variant forms include Kaira, Keera, Keira, Kiera, Kyra, Kyrah, Kyreena, Kyrha, Kyria, Kyrie, Kyrene, Kyrra and Kirra.^[8]