Lydia (name)

Lydia is a feminine first name. It derives from the Greek Λυδία, Ludía,  from λυδία (ludía; "beautiful one", "noble one", "from Lydia/Persia"), a feminine form of the ancient given name Λυδός (Lydus). The region of Lydia is said to be named for a king named Λυδός; the given name Lydia originally indicated ancestry or residence in the region of Lydia.

Bible
Lydia is a Biblical given name: Lydia of Thyatira, businesswoman in the city of Thyatira in the New Testament's Acts of the Apostles. She was the apostle Paul's first convert in Philippi and thus the first convert to Christianity in Europe. Lydia hosted Paul and Silas after their release from prison. It is possible that Lydia was the host for a house church during that time. According to Coleman Baker, "Lydia is described as a “worshipper of God" (probably synonymous with "God-fearer," used elsewhere in Acts) "from the city of Thyatira" (located in Western Asia Minor) and "a dealer in purple cloth" (a luxury item in the ancient Mediterranean). She and her household are soon baptized and offer hospitality to the traveling preachers. Lydia's house becomes the site for the church in Philippi, with her as its host and perhaps leader.... According to the book of Acts, Paul and his associates founded the church in Phillipi when Lydia and her household were baptized. One might conjecture that several of the women from the "place of prayer" were among those who joined with Lydia in this new movement."

People

 * Lydia Baxter (1809–1874), American poet
 * Lydia Becker (1820–1890), British suffragette and amateur scientist
 * Lydia Cabrera (1899–1991), Cuban anthropologist and poet
 * Lydia Canaan, Lebanon-born pioneering singer-songwriter, humanitarian, and activist
 * Lydia de Crescenzo, Italian fashion designer working as "Lydia de Roma"
 * Lydia Maria Child (1802–1880), American abolitionist, women's rights activist, novelist and journalist
 * Lydia Avery Coonley (1845–1924), American social leader, clubwoman and writer
 * Lydia Cornell (born 1953), American actress, blogger and radio talk show host
 * Lydia Davis (born 1947), American author
 * Lydia Dunn, Baroness Dunn (born 1940), Hong Kong politician
 * Lydia Echevarría (born 1931), Puerto Rican actress
 * Lydia Hoyt Farmer (1842–1903), American author, women's rights activist
 * Lydia Mary Fay (1804–1878), American missionary, educator, writer, and translator
 * Lydia Rodríguez Fernández (born 1980), Spanish pop singer who participated in the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest
 * Lydia Field Emmet (1866–1952), American painter
 * Lydia Gibson (1891–1964), American artist
 * Lydia Gromyko (1911–2004), Belarusian agriculturist
 * Lydia Hatuel-Czuckermann (born 1963), Israeli foil fencer
 * Lydia Hearst (born 1984), American model and socialite
 * Lydia Holman (1868–1960), American nurse who served in the Spanish-American War
 * Lydia Jacoby (born 2004), American swimmer
 * Lydia Kavina (born 1967), Russian theremin player and conductor
 * Lydia Ko (born 1997), Korean-born New Zealand golfer
 * Lydia Koidula (1843–1886), Estonian poet
 * Lydia Lamaison (1914–2012), Argentine actress
 * Lydia Lassila (born 1982), Australian skier
 * Lydia Lazarov (born 1946), Israeli yachting world champion
 * Lydia Lindeque (1916–1997), South African actor
 * Lydia Litvyak (1921–1943), Russian fighter pilot in World War II
 * Lydia Lopokova, Baroness Keynes (1892–1981), Russian ballerina
 * Lydia Lunch (born 1959), American No Wave singer
 * Lydia Mackay (born 1977), American actress and voice actress
 * Lydia Mei (1896–1965), Estonian painter
 * Lydia Mendoza (1916–2007), American guitarist and singer of Tejano music
 * Lydia Millet (born 1968), American author
 * Lydia Night (born 2000), American punk musician
 * Lydia Pense (born 1948), American singer
 * Lydia Pinkham (1819–1883), American patent medicine manufacturer and businesswoman
 * Lydia Polgreen (born 1975), American journalist
 * Lydia Riezouw (1923–2005), Dutch photographer, resistance fighter during World War II
 * Lydia Shum (1945–2008), Hong Kong actress and comedian
 * Lydia Simoneschi (1908–1981), Italian actress and voice actress
 * Lydia Stahl (1890–?), Russian espionage agent
 * Lydia H. Tilton (1839–1915), American journalist and temperance activist
 * Lydia Valentín (born 1985), Spanish weightlifter (retired)
 * Lydia de Vega (1964–2022), Filipina former athlete
 * Lydia Venieri (born 1964), Greek artist
 * Lydia Louisa Anna Very (1823–1901), American author and illustrator
 * Lydia Wahlström (1869–1954), Swedish historian, author and feminist
 * Lydia Weld (1878–1962), American engineer and naval architect
 * Lydia Williams (born 1988), Australian footballer

Fictional characters

 * Lydia, a character from John Flanagan's series of novels, Brotherband
 * Lydia, a character from House (TV series)
 * Lydia, a neutral good goddess of music, light and knowledge in the Greyhawk setting of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game
 * Lydia, a follower (housecarl) NPC in the video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
 * Lydia, a character from the television show Hotel Transylvania: The Series
 * Lydia, the second portrait ghost from the GameCube game Luigi's Mansion
 * Lydia, a character from The Walking Dead comic book series
 * Aunt Lydia, in the 1985 novel The Handmaid's Tale
 * Lydia Aspen, in the 1952 novel Love for Lydia
 * Lydia Wickham (née Bennet), a character from Jane Austen's novel, Pride and Prejudice
 * Lydia Branwell, a character from the TV show Shadowhunters
 * Lydia Brenner, a character in The Birds
 * Lydia Brown, a character in The Birth of a Nation
 * Lydia Clements, the aunt character The Handmaid's Tale TV series
 * Lydia Davis, a character from the television series Revenge
 * Lydia Deetz, a character in the 1988 feature film Beetlejuice and the subsequent television show Beetlejuice
 * Lydia Dingle a character from the British soap Emmerdale
 * Lydia Douce, a barmaid in the "Sirens" chapter of James Joyce's 20th century novel, Ulysses
 * Lydia Fox, a character from the Arthur television show
 * Lydia González, a bullfighter from the 2002 film Talk to Her
 * Lydia Gwilt, the femme fatale in Wilkie Collins's novel, Armadale
 * Lydia Hadley, mother in Ray Bradbury's short story, "The Veldt"
 * Lydia Hillard, in the 1993 film Mrs. Doubtfire
 * Lydia Karenin, a former character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital
 * Lydia King, a character in Charles Bukowski's 1982 novel Ham On Rye
 * Lydia Languish, a character in Richard Sheridan's first play, The Rivals
 * Lydia Lopez, a character from the Canadian-French animated series Flying Rhino Junior High
 * Lydia Marlowe, a character in The Woman in Green
 * Lydia Martin, a character from MTV TV show Teen Wolf played by Holland Roden
 * Lydia Maxwell, a character from the 1987 movie Innerspace, portrayed by Meg Ryan
 * Lydia Sharp, a character from Silas House's novel Southernmost, in which the character is symbolic of a fanatical Christian
 * Lydia Symmonds, a character from the British soap EastEnders
 * Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, a character from Breaking Bad
 * Lydia Tár, the titular character of the 2022 film Tár
 * Lydia, Countess of Walden, a character in Ken Follett's 1982 novel The Man from St. Petersburg
 * Lydia "Lyddie" Worthen, the main character of the 1991 historical novel Lyddie by Katherine Paterson and the 1993 TV movie based on it
 * Raven Lydia Baxter, the titular character of That's So Raven

Other

 * HMS Lydia, a fictional ship captained by Horatio Hornblower in the C.S. Forester's novel The Happy Return (called Beat to Quarters in the US)
 * USS Lydia (SP-62), a US patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919
 * USS Lydia (ID-3524), a US cargo ship in commission from 1918 to 1919
 * Lydia stone, a stone used to test the quality of gold and silver, a touchstone