Lila

What Lila means

Means “lilac”

Variant of Leila or Lilah, depending on pronunciation; also associated with Spanish lila (“lilac”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Lila” (revision 91488131), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Lila?

US: Steady: #199 in 2015, #186 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #234 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2010, when 1,969 girls got the name (#155 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 962 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 914 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,052 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 DC (5.45 per 1,000 girls), VT (5.13 per 1,000 girls), RI (4.08 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Lila is #186 in the US and #179 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 Lila were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

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
• Lola1,132 US · 524 E&W
• Lilly1,218 US · 382 E&W
• Leila1,193 US · 171 E&W
• Laila755 US · 151 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.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Leela

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Lila

Girls

• Sariyah#624“a cloud that comes by night”^*
• Avani#805“earth”^*
• Amirah#490Variant of Amira, meaning “princess”^*
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Ila#718Editor’s note Up from #1,183 in 2015 to #718 in 2025 in the US
• Anya#375Editor’s note Up from #550 in 2015 to #375 in 2025 in the US

For a brother

• Rayan#588Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #178 vs #588 in 2025
• Aarav#710“sound; loud noise”^*
• Arjun#490Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1967, with 7 babies
• Yusuf#449Same root as Joseph, meaning “(God) shall add”^*
• Ibrahim#351Editor’s note Up from #436 in 2015 to #351 in 2025 in the US
• Yahya#615Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #81 vs #615 in 2025

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