Laila

What Laila means

Means “night”

Variant of Leila and Layla, from Arabic لَيْلَى (laylā), related to لَيْلَة (layla, “night”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Laila” (revision 92165290), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Laila?

US: Falling: down from #170 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #178 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2009, when 2,379 girls got the name (#135 that year). First in the US records in 1884.

How common

• About 1 in 2,129 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,677 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,627 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 MD (1.2 per 1,000 girls), LA (1.04 per 1,000 girls), MS (1.01 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Laila is #413 in the US and #295 in England & Wales (2025).

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 Laila were girls.

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

• Lily6,673 US · 2,249 E&W
• Layla5,338 US · 833 E&W
• Lyla3,089 US · 751 E&W
• Lilah1,736 US · 464 E&W
• Lila1,670 US · 277 E&W
• Lola1,132 US · 524 E&W
• Leila1,193 US · 171 E&W
• Leyla478 US · 101 E&W

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 Laila

Girls

• Sariyah#624“a cloud that comes by night”^*
• Fatima#330Spanish and Portuguese, meaning “abstainer”^*
• Amirah#490Variant of Amira, meaning “princess”^*
• Aleah#965Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #444 in 2015, #965 in 2025
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Noor#659“light”^*

For a brother

• Mohamed#527Variant of Muhammad, meaning “praised, commendable, laudable”^*
• Rayan#588Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #178 vs #588 in 2025
• Omari#686Editor’s note Down from #508 in 2015 to #686 in 2025 in the US
• Nasir#486Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #486 vs #2,133 in 2025
• Ahmed#703Variant of Ahmad, meaning “praiseworthy”^*
• Hamza#541“lion”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Arabic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Laila’s. Rank is US 2025.