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Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson
Played by: Saoirse Ronan
- Attention Whore: Downplayed, but she has a tendency to be performative. From insisting to being called the unusual name "Lady Bird", to jumping out of a moving car during an argument with her mother, to getting annoyed when Julie puts her preferred name in quotations like she is, saying that it's not the same thing as her going by Lady Bird. Julie outright accuses her of being this when they have a falling out.
- The Beard: Inadvertently becomes this for Danny, who is in the closet, after they "date".
- Berserk Button: It's "Lady Bird", not "Christine".
- Daddy's Girl: She is on much better terms with her father. Her mother complains that his passive and non-confrontational parenting style keeps him as "the nice one," forcing her mother to be the disciplinarian.
- Deadpan Snarker: She turns her cynicism into sarcasm often ("The only thing exciting about 2002 is that it's a palindrome."). And at times it gets brutal, such as her argument with the pro-life advocate:Lady Bird: Just because something looks ugly doesn't mean that it's morally wrong.
Casey: You think dead children aren't morally wrong?
Lady Bird: No. I'm just saying that, if you took up close pictures of my vagina while I was on my period, it would be disturbing but it doesn't make it wrong.
Casey Kelly: Excuse me?
Lady Bird: Look, if your mother had had the abortion, we wouldn't have to sit through this stupid assembly! - Did Not Get The Guy: Neither of them.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Very insistent on being called "Lady Bird" until she starts going by Christine again after arriving in New York.
- Fiery Redhead: Even though she dyes it pink.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's as rebellious, sarcastic, and angsty as you expect a teenage girl would be but she also seem to still be caring, smart, and considerate.
- Nonconformist Dyed Hair: The titular heroine is an artistic teenager who continuously rebels against her regular Sacramento upbringing. Her hair is dyed scarlet, with the roots getting longer as the year progresses.
Marion McPherson
Played by: Laurie Metcalf
- Abusive Parents: She's emotionally abusive towards her children, and her own mom was an abusive alcoholic.
- Alcoholic Parent: Her mother again.
- Brutal Honesty: She's unafraid to speak frankly to Lady Bird regarding her father's being fired, the cost of raising her, and various other problems that most parents might try to avoid.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Downplayed. Feeling betrayed by Lady Bird, Marion refuses to speak to her daughter for the summer even when she leaves for college. Overcome with regret at the last minute, Marion tries to say goodbye to her but arrives too late. However, as Larry notes, their girl will be back, and we already see the start of reconciliation when Lady Bird leaves a call thanking her mother at the end.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Can be a really crappy mom at times, but she ultimately loves her children and is trying to do right by them.
- My Beloved Smother: Her overbearing and nitpicking personality can only serve to drive the baby of the family away even as she wants desperately to keep her near for financial and emotional reasons.
- Parents as People: She clearly isn't perfect. She has her needs and insecurities but is still a mother trying to be there for caring for her kids.
- Was Too Hard on Her
Larry McPherson
Played by: Tracy Letts
- Deadpan Snarker: Has his moments.In the car listening to "Hand in My Pocket"
Lady Bird: Did you know Alanis Morissette wrote this song in 10 minutes?
Larry: I believe it! - From Bad to Worse: While he doesn't get worse in personality, there is a moment in the movie where others are concerned about his well-being.
- Good Parents: Unlike his wife, he's nothing but kind to his kids, always looking out for them over himself.
- Gentle Giant: As he's generally more supportive of Lady Bird's needs and wants than Marion is, even applying to East Coast colleges behind the latter's back.
- Henpecked Husband: As he is overshadowed by Marion's much more domineering personality.
- Nice Guy: He is a normal loving father. Even when it's revealed that he's on medication for depression, which he's been hiding from his kids, he has made his family his primary focus.
- Papa Wolf: When Kyle honks the horn instead of coming to the house to get her, Larry expresses disapproval of him.
- Pushover Parents: Marion lampshades this, stating he's too nice and it falls on her to put the parental foot down.
- Stepford Smiler: Not the cheeriest guy around, but you wouldn't guess based on his demeanor that he's been living with depression, which he hides for the sake of his children.
Danny O'Neill
Played by: Lucas Hedges
- Blue Blood: He's specifically cued as part of an old-money East Sac family: Irish-Catholic, family generations own multiple houses in the affluent Fabulous Forties neighborhood, and those of the right age remember Ronald Reagan fondly.note
- Gayngst: Danny's in the closet and he feels a lot of pressure from his conservative family. When Lady Bird catches him kissing another guy he breaks down and begs her not to tell anyone.
- Innocently Insensitive: Danny's well-intentioned but can come across as thoughtless from time to time. He congratulates Lady Bird on the waitlist but in doing so accidentally spills the fact that she applied to her mother.
- Nice Guy: He is a kind and caring guy who remains one of Lady Bird's friends after their breakup.
- Straight Gay: Aside from his participation in the play, he doesn’t embody any gay stereotypes.
- Uptown Boy: Is this with lower-class Lady Bird.
Kyle Scheible
Played by: Timothée Chalamet
- Conspiracy Theorist: Kyle's got a number of odd beliefs. For one, he thinks that phones are tracking everyone and in a few years the tracking tech will be embedded into everyone's heads.
- Hipster: He plays in a rock band, spends his time brooding and reading, makes lots of anti-establishment statements, and is part of the cool clique.
- Hypocrite: Rails against cell phones in one of his first appearances, but while he's driving Lady Bird to prom, he's revealed to not only own one but also use it regularly.
- Jerkass: Kyle is a pretentious and stuck-up snob who's pretty insufferable to be around.
- Lousy Lovers Are Losers: Lady Bird's first time with her him is awful and unsatisfying. He doesn't try to guide her, makes no effort to really please her, and ends up climaxing extremely quickly. It's particularly painful because he claimed to be a virgin to get her into bed, and offhandedly admits that he can't even remember how many girls he's been with at this point. Kyle's unapologetic when she voices her dissatisfaction and then outright mocks her for thinking he would try to make her first time special.Lady Bird: I just wanted it to be special.
Kyle: Why? You're going to have so much un-special sex in your life.
Lady Bird: I was on top! Who the fuck is on top their first time!? - Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Played by Timothée Chalamet, who fits the bill for all three.
- Troubled, but Cute: He is an antisocial, existentialist musician with an ailing father.
Julianna "Julie" Steffans
Played by: Beanie Feldstein
- Fat Best Friend: Is short and fat, especially in contrast to the tall and slender Lady Bird. She complains about her weight on a few occasions.
- Hot for Teacher: Has a bit of a crush on her math teacher.
- Nice Girl: She's Lady Bird's best friend. They do have a big separation argument mid way through the movie but they reconcile and she has always remained supportive or faithful to her when they were friends.
- Undying Loyalty: In the beginning and the end.
