Isla
Meaning not yet sourced
Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #142 in 2015, #28 in 2025. Short and simple: 4 letters
Girl’s name · from a place name · /aɪlə/
What Isla means
Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Isla yet, and we don’t write our own.
Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #142 in 2015, #28 in 2025. Short and simple: 4 letters Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.
A female given name transferred from the place name. Coined in the twentieth century from an archaic spelling of Islay, an island in the Hebrides.
Source: Wiktionary, “Isla” (revision 93487243), CC BY-SA 4.0.
How popular is Isla?
▲ 7 vs 2024
same as 2024
same as 2024
US: Rising: up from #142 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #4 in 2015, #4 now.
Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 6,012 girls got the name (#28 that year). First in the US records in 1886.
How common
- About 1 in 267 baby girls in the US in 2025
- About 1 in 129 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
- About 1 in 71 baby girls in Scotland in 2025
“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.
Where in the US
Most popular in HI (18.65 per 1,000 girls), VT (15.4 per 1,000 girls), RI (13.46 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.
SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.
US vs UK
Isla is #28 in the US and #4 in England & Wales (2025).
| Rank 2025 | Babies | How common | Rank 2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | #28 | 6,012 | 1 in 267 | #142 |
| England & Wales | #4 | 1,959 | 1 in 129 | #4 |
| Scotland | #2 | 253 | 1 in 71 | #4 |
Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).
Boy or girl?
In 2025, 99.9% of US babies named Isla were girls.
| Girls | Boys | |
|---|---|---|
| US 2025 | 6,012 | 7 |
| England & Wales 2025 | 1,959 | 0 |
| US all years since 1880 | 58,252 | 19 |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 53,805 | 0 |
Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.
How to say it
IPA from Wiktionary.
Other spellings parents chose in 2025
- Isley62 US
- Islah55 US · 4 E&W
- Esli34 US
- Aisla24 US · 7 E&W
- Islay24 US · 6 E&W
- Asli22 US · 4 E&W
- Esly16 US
- Asly14 US
Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.
If you like Isla
Girls
- Brooklyn#118“wetland, marsh”*
- Dakota#295“ally”*
- Savannah#135From the word “savannah”*
- Delilah#51Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #115 in 2015, #51 in 2025
- Gemma#170“jewel”*
- Violet#13From the word “violet”*
For a brother
- Dallas#238“dweller at the house in the dale”*
- Henry#5Editor’s note Up from #29 in 2015 to #5 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 140 US boys in the 2025 records
- Oliver#3Editor’s note Up from #19 in 2015 to #3 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 110 US boys in the 2025 records
- Kash#286Editor’s note Up from #382 in 2015 to #286 in 2025 in the US
- Knox#196“round hill”*
- Levi#12Editor’s note Up from #42 in 2015 to #12 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 180 US boys in the 2025 records
Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a place name where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Isla’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.
Famous people named Isla
- Isla Fisher Australian actress and author (born 1976)
- Isla Blair British actress
- Isla Phillips granddaughter of Anne, Princess Royal; great-granddaughter of Elizabeth II
- Isla Bevan British actress (1910-1976)
- Isla Cameron British actor and singer
People with this given name on Wikidata that have an English Wikipedia article, most widely covered first. Descriptions from Wikidata.
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