Lydia (name)
Lydia is a feminine first name. It derives from the Greek Λυδία, Ludía, from λυδία, a feminine form of the ancient given name Λυδός. 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 was 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' 'from the city of Thyatira' and 'a dealer in purple cloth'. 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 Philippi 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 Ainsworth, Canadian composer, producer and singer
- Lydia Alfonsi, Italian actress
- Lydia Alhassan, Ghanaian politician
- Lydia Avilova, Russian writer and memoirist
- Lydia Baxter, American poet
- Lydia Becker, British suffragette and amateur scientist
- Lydia Benecke, German criminal psychologist and writer
- Lydia Boylan, Irish racing cyclist
- Lydia Cabrera, Cuban anthropologist and poet
- Lydia Cacho, Mexican journalist, feminist, and human rights activist
- Lydia de Crescenzo, Italian fashion designer working as "Lydia de Roma"
- Lydia Maria Child, American abolitionist, women's rights activist, novelist and journalist
- Lydia Chukovskaya, Soviet writer, poet, editor, publicist, memoirist and dissident
- Lydia Clarke, American actress and photographer
- Lydia Avery Coonley, American social leader, clubwoman and writer
- Lydia Cornell, American actress, blogger and radio talk show host
- Lydia Davis, American author
- Lydia R. Diamond, American playwright and professor
- Lydia Dunn, Baroness Dunn, Hong Kong politician
- Lydia Echevarría, Puerto Rican actress
- Lydia Edwards, American attorney and politician
- Lydia Field Emmet, American painter
- Lydia Hoyt Farmer, American author, women's rights activist
- Lydia Mary Fay, American missionary, educator, writer, and translator
- Lydia Rodríguez Fernández, Spanish pop singer who participated in the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest
- Lydia Foote, English actress
- Lydia Forson, Ghanaian actress, writer, and producer
- Lydia Folger Fowler, American physician, professor of medicine, and activist
- Lydia Foy, Irish transgender activist
- Lydia Gibson, American artist
- Lydia Griggsby, American judge
- Lydia Gromyko, Belarusian agriculturist
- Lydia Haika, Kenyan politician
- Lydia Hatuel-Czuckermann, Israeli foil fencer
- Lydia Cromwell Hearne, American physician and civic leader
- Lydia Hearst, American model and socialite
- Lydia Holman, American nurse who served in the Spanish-American War
- Lydia Hedberg, Swedish singer
- Lydia Jacoby, American swimmer
- Lydia Jele, Botswana athlete
- Lydia Jennings, Native American soil microbiologist and environmental scientist
- Lydia Kallipoliti, Greek architect, engineer, and architectural historian
- Lydia Kavina, Russian theremin player and conductor
- Lydia Kavraki, Greek-American computer scientist
- Lydia Ko, Korean-born New Zealand golfer
- Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet
- Lydia Koreneva, Russian-Soviet stage actress
- Lydia Lamaison, Argentine actress
- Lydia Lassila, Australian skier
- Lydia Lazarov, Israeli yachting world champion
- Lydia Lindeque, South African actor
- Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Kamakaʻeha, the last Queen regnant of the Hawaiian Kingdom
- Lydia Lipkowska, Russian operatic soprano of Ukrainian origin
- Lydia Litvyak, Russian fighter pilot in World War II
- Lydia Lopokova, Baroness Keynes, Russian ballerina
- Lydia Loveless, American alternative country singer-songwriter
- Lydia Lucy, English singer and television personality
- Lydia Lunch, American No Wave singer
- Lydia Mackay, American actress and voice actress
- Lydia Mei, Estonian painter
- Lydia Mendoza, American guitarist and singer of Tejano music
- Lydia Millet, American author
- Lydia Nicole, American actress, comedian, writer and producer
- Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo, Motswana linguistic scholar and activist
- Lydia Night, American punk musician
- Lydia Nsekera, Burundian sports official
- Lydia Pense, American singer
- Lydia Pinkham, American patent medicine manufacturer and businesswoman
- Lydia Polgreen, American journalist
- Lydia Reed, American child actress
- Lydia Reid, American politician
- Lydia Riezouw, Dutch photographer, resistance fighter during World War II
- Lydia Roberts, American nutritionist
- Lydia Rotich, Kenyan long-distance runner
- Lydia Shattuck, American botanist, naturalist, chemist, and professor
- Lydia Shum, Hong Kong actress and comedian
- Lydia Sigourney, American poet, author, and publisher
- Lydia Simoneschi, Italian actress and voice actress
- Lydia Stahl, Russian espionage agent
- Lydia Stephans, American speed skater, television producer, and CEO of SportsBubble
- Lydia Thompson, English dancer, comedian, actor and theatrical producer
- Lydia H. Tilton, American journalist and temperance activist
- Lydia Valentín, Spanish weightlifter
- Lydia de Vega, Filipina former athlete
- Lydia Venieri, Greek artist
- Lydia Louisa Anna Very, American author and illustrator
- Lydia Wahlström, Swedish historian, author and feminist
- Lydia Weld, American engineer and naval architect
- Lydia White, Canadian linguist
- Lydia Wideman, cross-country skier from Finland
- Lydia Williams, Australian footballer
- Lydia Williams, American Rapper, Poet, Business Mogul
- Lydia Zinovieva-Annibal, Russian writer and dramatist
- Lydia Zvereva, Russian aviation pioneer
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 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
- Lydia, one of the seven Magypsies in Mother 3
- 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 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 MacMillan, the titular character of the 1941 film Lydia
- 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 Pearson, the mother of the titular character in the Disney animated series "Pepper Ann"
- 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
- Lydia is the main antagonist of the 2008 direct-to-video animated Barbie film Barbie & The Diamond Castle.
Other
- HMS Lydia, a fictional ship captained by Horatio Hornblower in the C.S. Forester's novel The Happy Return
- , a US patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919
- , 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