Lydia Name Meaning

A beautiful Biblical pick with vintage styling, Lydia has been making her presence known on the baby name scene. With a sound similar to mega-hits like Olivia and Amelia, she’s a treasure of a name just waiting to be discovered by parents.

While old lady chic names continue to be all the rage, Lydia is right on trend without being too popular. Like her sisters Pearl and Margo, she has antique roots to boast about with a hefty dose of modern style as well. Likewise, she works well with the L name trend where Lily and Layla have been picking up steam. She’s well-known enough to avoid spelling or pronunciation issues but still has a sense of mystery around her.

Lydia is delicate yet strong, a name with more than meets the eye. She’s bold and brave in her styling, not afraid to strike a pose when the moment is right. She has the enviable British feel of Ruby and Madeline, yet takes things a step further with her upscale air. After all, Lydia is quite the polished lady, one who fancies the finer things in life.

Also appearing as Lidia, Lydia ages without issue, a darling name on a dainty tea party hostess and grown chef alike. With her precious nickname of Lydie, she’s simply irresistible.

Infographic of Lydia name meaning, which is Lydia means from Lydia, an ancient kingdom of Asia Minor and appears in the Bible as a woman converted to Christianity
Ask your friends & family about Lydia…

Lydia Name Popularity

How popular is the name Lydia? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 — 509 0.1446%
1911 — 542 0.1455%
1912 — 675 0.1338%
1913 — 743 0.131%
1914 — 836 0.12%
1915 — 1,069 0.1177%
1916 — 1,139 0.1179%
1917 — 1,172 0.1171%
1918 — 1,132 0.1055%
1919 — 1,049 0.1002%
1920 — 1,099 0.0988%
1921 — 1,023 0.0893%
1922 — 1,008 0.0905%
1923 — 952 0.085%
1924 — 889 0.0766%
1925 — 932 0.0825%
1926 — 791 0.0719%
1927 — 851 0.0769%
1928 — 788 0.0736%
1929 — 724 0.0699%
1930 — 650 0.0622%
1931 — 613 0.0621%
1932 — 599 0.0606%
1933 — 639 0.0686%
1934 — 591 0.0611%
1935 — 636 0.0654%
1936 — 654 0.0679%
1937 — 652 0.0662%
1938 — 648 0.0633%
1939 — 644 0.0633%
1940 — 683 0.0643%
1941 — 638 0.0567%
1942 — 807 0.0639%
1943 — 822 0.063%
1944 — 765 0.0617%
1945 — 798 0.0654%
1946 — 852 0.0577%
1947 — 1,007 0.0603%
1948 — 1,188 0.0744%
1949 — 1,212 0.0753%
1950 — 1,103 0.0685%
1951 — 1,109 0.0654%
1952 — 1,294 0.0741%
1953 — 1,525 0.0862%
1954 — 1,534 0.0839%
1955 — 1,555 0.0845%
1956 — 1,513 0.0801%
1957 — 1,598 0.083%
1958 — 1,550 0.082%
1959 — 1,546 0.0814%
1960 — 1,631 0.0861%
1961 — 1,544 0.0818%
1962 — 1,385 0.0754%
1963 — 1,265 0.0705%
1964 — 1,150 0.0653%
1965 — 1,049 0.0641%
1966 — 904 0.0579%
1967 — 829 0.0546%
1968 — 823 0.0548%
1969 — 771 0.05%
1970 — 887 0.0557%
1971 — 822 0.0547%
1972 — 714 0.0524%
1973 — 640 0.0494%
1974 — 685 0.0527%
1975 — 643 0.05%
1976 — 716 0.0556%
1977 — 729 0.0541%
1978 — 663 0.0493%
1979 — 778 0.0552%
1980 — 831 0.0568%
1981 — 903 0.0614%
1982 — 1,019 0.0682%
1983 — 994 0.0674%
1984 — 1,181 0.0794%
1985 — 1,193 0.0786%
1986 — 1,106 0.0733%
1987 — 1,178 0.0772%
1988 — 1,146 0.0735%
1989 — 1,241 0.0769%
1990 — 1,389 0.0838%
1991 — 1,362 0.0836%
1992 — 1,382 0.0866%
1993 — 1,404 0.0901%
1994 — 1,596 0.104%
1995 — 1,743 0.1157%
1996 — 1,796 0.1199%
1997 — 1,922 0.13%
1998 — 2,056 0.1374%
1999 — 2,160 0.1442%
2000 — 2,296 0.1503%
2001 — 2,346 0.1557%
2002 — 2,499 0.1668%
2003 — 2,618 0.1721%
2004 — 2,615 0.1716%
2005 — 2,766 0.1809%
2006 — 2,654 0.1695%
2007 — 2,758 0.1748%
2008 — 2,865 0.1854%
2009 — 2,815 0.1883%
2010 — 2,824 0.196%
2011 — 3,083 0.2164%
2012 — 3,162 0.2219%
2013 — 3,252 0.2284%
2014 — 3,632 0.2493%
2015 — 3,489 0.2398%
2016 — 3,606 0.2501%
2017 — 3,303 0.2367%
2018 — 3,176 0.2312%
2019 — 2,976 0.2198%
2020 — 2,644 0.2077%
2021 — 2,732 0.2235%
2022 — 2,785 0.2111%
2023 — 2,720 0.2102%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Lydia

If you like Lydia, you’ll love these other names like Lydia.

What names are diminutives of Lydia?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Lydia sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Lydia, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Lada

Glorious rule

Slavic

Leda

Woman

Greek

Lida

Loved by the people

Slavic

Lidie

From Lydia

Greek

Lyda

Small winged one; loved by the people; from Lydia

Slavic

Lydie

From Lydia

Greek

What names are variants of Lydia?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Lydia.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Lidia

From Lydia

Greek

Lidija

From Lydia

Greek

What names sound like Lydia?

If you like how Lydia sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Lydia.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Libby

A diminutive of Elizabeth, “to the Lord I consecrate thee.”

Hebrew

Liberty

Freedom

English

Lyra

Lyre

Greek

What names are similar to Lydia?

Find a name that’s like Lydia, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Charlotte

Free man

French

Dahlia

Dahlia flower

Scandinavian

Danica

Morning star; from Denmark

Slavic

Emilia

To rival

Latin

Evelyn

Desired one

English

Isabella

Devoted to God

Italian

Luciana

Light

Italian

Olivia

Olive tree

Latin

Penelope

Weaver

Greek

Sophia

Wisdom

Greek

Lists With Lydia

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Lydia.

Siblings of Lydia

Mamas with kids named Lydia also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Lucas

From Lucania

Latin

Desirae

Much desired

French

Jonathan

God has given

Hebrew

Stephen

Crown

English

Ezra

Help

Hebrew

35 Comments

  1. Lydia was the name of my great-grandmother. In the early 1900s she earned her masters degree and raised two strong girls. We loved the idea of our daughter sharing a name with such a driven and educated trail-blazer of a woman!

    Reply

  2. I chose Lydia because of the woman in the Bible who God prepared her heart to hear the Gospel that the Apostolic Paul preached. It was a testimony of his God works and this is my prayer for my baby girl, that God opens her heart to love and serve Him!

    Reply

  3. My husband and I were discussing baby names years before I got pregnant. We liked the name Lydia because it was a pretty name that was not so common that you hear it all the time but it was also not too unique that it sounded really weird. It is also a name you can find in the Bible and it has a nice meaning.

    Reply

  4. Lydia is an awesome name and i should know and i love this website because it says how cool i am.

    Reply

  5. Lydia means noble one, beautiful one. We, my husband and I loved the meaning and then when we read about Lydia in the Bible in Acts 16, we felt it right to name our daughter after her. We believe we made the right choice. We look forward to seeing her grow as a noble and beautiful soul.

    Reply

  6. Lydia was the seller of purple cloth in the Bible, and I’m obsessed with the color purple. She also hosted the first church, and was one of the first female entrepreneurs mentioned.

    Reply

  7. It’s a beautiful & timeless name that isn’t overused. It’s very unique without sounding out of the ordinary. Lydia was the first gentile woman to believe in Christ in the book of Acts. She was a dyer of purple linens & was giving to the poor.

    Reply

  8. I personally didn’t like my name Lydia because of how people would tease about it but time came when my rev was preaching about how Lydia, the business woman in the bible helped apostle Paul and his fellows by hospitalizing them and since then,I became so proud of my name LYDIA <3??. And since I am beautiful, courageous and hard-working, please it's a good name y'all should give your young born girls <3???

    Reply

  9. My husband and I chose a biblical theme for our children. They are Moses, Miriam, Esther (Enoch) and now our youngest is Lydia! I love how Lydia was a successful businesswoman in the New Testament and used her home to show hospitality to Jesus’ disciples.

    Reply

  10. Lydia is the first woman to follow Jesus in Europe when Paul and his coworkers share on the bank of a river where a group of ladies gathered to pray. Lydia is hard working and hospitable. She is a leader and leads her household in baptism after hearing about how to follow Jesus. I love what her name signifies in leadership, diligence and hospitality. Praying these things over my sweet Lydia Joy!

    Reply

  11. Lydia from Acts 16

    Reply

  12. The name has a great meaning and is rather rare. The name works internationally. We have a friend with that name. Lydia was the first Christian woman in Europe.

    Reply

  13. Lydia is a lesser known biblical name from the New Testament. I just knew she was Lydia once we knew she was a girl in utero. She already fits her name not even a day old.

    Reply

  14. My name is Lydia, and I love it.!! Well, I’ll say the name is such a sweet ?? and beautiful name.
    It also have great meaning, am greatful to have one of a kind” name’. Baby girl Lydia ?<3

    Reply

  15. Daddy chose the name after a famous female golfer. I have no objection since I already have a good friend whose name is Lydia – my friend is thrilled to share her name.

    Nothing I dislike about the name Lydia.

    Reply

  16. My great grandmothers name was elva Louise love. Her initials were ELL. I’ve always wanted to name my daughter Ellie. BUT, my son has a biblical name and we wanted to keep that theme so we chose Lydia because not only is it biblical, it begins with L so we can call her “L” as a nod to my great grandmother.

    Reply

  17. I hated my name growing up. I am redheaded and with the name Lydia I was teased a lot about being a witch. I never had to worry about there ever being another Lydia being in the same class, as a matter of fact there never was one in the whole school until I got up into high school. I do have to correct people because they pronounce it wrong, my Grandpa always called me Libby. Now I get a lot of compliments on my name and the color of my hair. I also named my daughter Lydia but she goes by her middle name.

    Reply

    • Hello I’m Lydia The name of Lydia is special ??and
      It doesn’t matter if other people
      Make fun of you

      When you do something they will talk

      Don’t let them make you insecure

      Lydia is a precious name?

      Reply

  18. Lydia was the first European convert to Christianity, as recorded in the book of Acts. She was a seller of purple cloth and support led Paul’s gospel ministry/ the early house church movement.

    I think it’s a beautiful name that sounds like a song ? It means beautiful one or noble one. My name, Audra, means noble woman and my daughter and I share the same middle name, Christine. I like that our names have similar meanings and that she’s named to honor a godly woman is scripture.

    Reply

  19. My name is Lydia. And I love it. As I grew it up I read the bible, everyone time I got to the part about Lydia I would get so excited

    Reply

  20. My mom liked many girl names and one of them was Lydia. But after I was born, my moms cousin had a daughter that was two years older than me and was also named Lydia. So, with much thought, my mom and dad named me Lydea instead of Lydia to separate the confusing name.

    Reply

  21. When I was a little girl about 6 years old I read in the bible about Lydia , and I said then if I ever had a little girl that’s what her name would be. So many years later I had my sweet baby girl and Lydia JoAnne is her name 🙂

    Reply

  22. I was in labor and I walked out of the bathroom and asked my husband if he liked the name. It just came to me during a contraction. We had a list of 18 names and we wanted to wait to meet her. Turns out she sent us a message.

    Reply

  23. We love the name Lydia because we love Halloween and the name comes from the movie Beetlejuice 🙂

    Reply

  24. I wanted something unique and lovely and as an added bonus it also happens to be a positive biblical name of a prophetess in the book of Acts. It also went well with my middle, May, name which I’d be giving to my girl.

    Reply

  25. We hadn’t much thought about or discussed names before our baby was born. We did not find out the sex, and after taking a week to decide our firstborn’s name, figured we could wait and avoid the stress of looking. After she was born and we’d brought her home, I kept wanting to call her Lydia! It wasn’t a name we’d ever considered, and we don’t know any Lydia’s! We just went with it.

    Reply

  26. We wanted a biblical name as we already had 2 boys with biblical names. We also wanted something a little bit different. Lydia is in the new testament as a lady who showed support and hospitality to Paul and is thought to be one of his first converts. I’ve loved the name Lydia actually since hearing it on the movie Mrs Doubtfire as a kid – one of the children’s names 🙂

    Reply

  27. We chose Lydia because it’s a name that we haven’t heard much in the past recent years. I’ve also never actually known anyone in person names Lydia. I love the name! I don’t think there’s anything that I don’t like about it honestly. I think her name is perfect!

    Reply

  28. Lydia was a wealthy businesswoman from Asia who had an influential part in establishing the Philippian church in Acts 16. She heard and believed the apostle Paul’s teaching and invited him and his companions to stay in her home. After that, the believers in that area would gather in her home for worship and teaching. She’s not mentioned many times but the impact she had was influential in the spread of the gospel! I’ve always thought that would be a great name to use for a daughter ever since I heard more about Lydia in the teaching at our church one Sunday. There’s definitely more info about her out there, but I’d have to look back at it – suffice to say she was a very generous, hospitable, faith-filled, and courageous person, and I pray that my own daughter would embody those traits as well.
    I found out that Lydia apparently also means “beautiful dark-haired maiden” so I mean that’s not a bad namesake either…

    Reply

  29. We named our daughter Lydia after Lydia in the bible. The name is well known enough that people know how to say and spell it but we have rarely run into another Lydia! Her nickname is Lydi.

    Reply

    • As much as I love my name, it’s meaning, it’s spelling, I personally don’t like it on me. I guess since my personal association is rather negative, it seems to make my name also a reminder of something bad in my life.

      Reply

      • im sorry you feel that way. i feel the exact opposite. everything this website says i feel is basically me

        Reply

    • cool. lydia is an awesome name

      Reply

  30. I wanted a classic name that wasn’t too trendy but not a weird made up name.

    Reply

    • Lydia is a great name for you

      Reply

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