Layla Name Meaning

A name beaming with beauty, Layla means “night” in Arabic. A derivative of Leila, Layla has long been a classic name in Arabic speaking nations before her rise to fame in English circles.

Layla’s nightly origins make her an attractive choice for parents looking for something edgy without being too over the top or descriptive. A little Layla is just as mysterious as Raven without the preceding imagery, allowing her to own her name and its likeness.

Layla offers the familiar feel of the 90s classic Kayla with the in-trend L start seen in current favorites Lily, Leah, and Lucy. Her history and sound also give her an exotic feel similar to Mila, Luna, and Aurora. Despite this mysterious allure, she’s much more common than one may think thanks to her plentiful spelling variations including Leila, Laila, Leyla, and Laylah. She’s not to be confused with the similar Lilah and Leela, though just as beautiful.

Layla also strikes an easy balance between being both youthful and mature. She wears well on a little girl and adult alike, never sound too stuffy or cutesy regardless of age. She’s fashionable, versatile, and no doubt here to rock the charts for years to come.

Infographic of Layla name meaning, which is A derivative of Leila, Layla is Arabic for night.
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Layla Name Popularity

How popular is the name Layla? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 0 0%
1911 0 0%
1912 0 0%
1913 0 0%
1914 0 0%
1915 0 0%
1916 0 0%
1917 0 0%
1918 0 0%
1919 0 0%
1920 0 0%
1921 0 0%
1922 0 0%
1923 0 0%
1924 0 0%
1925 0 0%
1926 0 0%
1927 0 0%
1928 0 0%
1929 0 0%
1930 0 0%
1931 0 0%
1932 0 0%
1933 0 0%
1934 0 0%
1935 0 0%
1936 0 0%
1937 0 0%
1938 0 0%
1939 0 0%
1940 0 0%
1941 0 0%
1942 0 0%
1943 0 0%
1944 0 0%
1945 0 0%
1946 0 0%
1947 0 0%
1948 0 0%
1949 0 0%
1950 0 0%
1951 0 0%
1952 0 0%
1953 0 0%
1954 0 0%
1955 0 0%
1956 0 0%
1957 0 0%
1958 0 0%
1959 0 0%
1960 0 0%
1961 0 0%
1962 0 0%
1963 0 0%
1964 0 0%
1965 0 0%
1966 0 0%
1967 0 0%
1968 0 0%
1969 0 0%
1970 0 0%
1971 2,171 8 0.0005%
1972 979 72 0.0053%
1973 858 99 0.0076%
1974 774 131 0.0101%
1975 771 132 0.0103%
1976 823 118 0.0092%
1977 802 133 0.0099%
1978 1,036 81 0.006%
1979 1,062 80 0.0057%
1980 1,036 88 0.006%
1981 1,386 44 0.003%
1982 1,293 52 0.0035%
1983 1,586 29 0.002%
1984 1,199 60 0.004%
1985 1,509 36 0.0024%
1986 1,224 63 0.0042%
1987 1,530 40 0.0026%
1988 1,284 62 0.004%
1989 1,602 43 0.0027%
1990 1,226 87 0.0052%
1991 1,616 48 0.0029%
1992 1,091 116 0.0073%
1993 682 272 0.0174%
1994 911 160 0.0104%
1995 846 181 0.012%
1996 879 173 0.0116%
1997 977 147 0.0099%
1998 860 194 0.013%
1999 668 297 0.0198%
2000 406 669 0.0438%
2001 329 917 0.0609%
2002 291 1,040 0.0694%
2003 195 1,663 0.1093%
2004 169 1,994 0.1308%
2005 144 2,370 0.155%
2006 101 3,349 0.2139%
2007 85 3,893 0.2467%
2008 55 4,930 0.319%
2009 45 5,200 0.3479%
2010 37 5,889 0.4087%
2011 35 6,076 0.4265%
2012 31 6,263 0.4395%
2013 30 6,477 0.4549%
2014 29 6,446 0.4424%
2015 30 6,325 0.4347%
2016 30 6,246 0.4332%
2017 26 6,274 0.4495%
2018 27 6,459 0.4701%
2019 23 6,478 0.4785%
2020 24 6,086 0.4781%
2021 25 5,812 0.4754%
2022 29 6,058 0.4592%

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Wyoming (WY)

Data via SSA.gov.


Names Like Layla

If you like Layla, you’ll love these other names like Layla.


What names are diminutives of Layla?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Layla sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Layla, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Lala

Tulip

Slavic


What names are variants of Layla?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Layla.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Laela

Night beauty

Arabic

Laila

Night

Arabic

Laylah

Night beauty

Arabic

Leila

Night

Arabic

Leyla

Night beauty

Arabic


What names sound like Layla?

If you like how Layla sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Layla.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Bayla

Berry clearing; bailiff; city fortification

English

Jayla

Combination name

American

Kayla

Pure

English

Kyla

Narrow strait

English

Lalla

“The maiden from the Lowlands,” based on the Scottish dialectal form lal- lan, the low-lying land.

Leela

Night beauty

Arabic

Lilah

Night

Arabic

Lyla

Night

English

Nyla

One who achieves

Arabic

Rayla

What names are similar to Layla?

Find a name that’s like Layla, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Amira

Ruling princess

Arabic

Aria

Vocal solo

English

Calista

Cup; fairest, most beautiful

Latin

Camila

Young religious servant

Spanish

Dahlia

Dahlia flower

Scandinavian

Farrah

Good-looking

English

Mila

Dear and gracious

Slavic

Mira

Wonderful; peace; propserous

Spanish

Penelope

Weaver

Greek

Phoebe

Bright and pure

Greek


Lists With Layla

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Layla.


Siblings of Layla

Mamas with kids named Layla also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Christian

Follower of Christ

Latin

Elsie

God is my oath

English

Samuel

Name of God

Hebrew

Amina

Truthful one

Arabic

Lillith

Belonging to the night

Ancient

Kayden

Son of Cadan

American

Jacob

Supplanter

Hebrew

Kylie

Boomerang

Aboriginal

Chloe

Green sprout

Greek

Elysia

Latin

Demetrius

Follower of Demeter

Greek

22 Comments

  1. Staying true to tradition with an L name. Wanted something Hebrew. I love her name.Layla means night in hebrew and she is true to form.????

  2. My husband loves music from the 1960s so I thought of Layla after the Eric Clapton song. We played that song right after my daughter was born in the delivery room. We hope she grows up to be a music lover like her daddy.

  3. I picked Layla because it’s a beautiful name and short like my other two kids. All three of my kids have short names. Either five or six letters long.
    My oldest is Alexa I picked it BC I didn’t hear it now thts all I hear.
    My son is Daxter. His name is very uncommon. I’ve always liked short and uncommon names.

  4. I have a niece whose name is Lyla and my son came up with naming his sister Layla and I instantly fell in love with it ?

  5. Layla is a great name, i wanted to name my daughter similar to my name

  6. Thought it was a unique name & it matches her so well

    • I love the name so much, it is truly an amazing name. I’ve allways been in love with that name and I defenatly recommend it.

  7. After my sister

  8. Well it was something that my husband just blurted out he was thinking of names closer to Luke for a girl. At first I didn’t like the name but soon learn to love it. I also looked at the meeting and it means dark beauty or night time or the night beauty. Wish to me are all beautiful and wonderful things.

  9. It was chosen by my fiance and I grew to like the name.
    I wanted to name her Penelope, but my family didn’t like the idea of calling her Penny. Her middle name is Penelope though. I liked the name because of a wonderful student I connected with at work. A sweet, intelligent, artistic and kind little girl.

    The thing I don’t like about the name Layla is that when Spanish speakers try to say the name, they say Lehla which translates to slow. My family is Hispanic and my parents have a bit of a hard time saying the name correctly.

    So far though, I think the name suits her. She already kind of perks up her ears when I call her Layla.

  10. Layla is a simple, but strong name. It’s not too old or too new, so its perfect. Every person I have met or heard out with this name, was strong, independent & smart women.

  11. Layla was decided because when I was 18 my friends and I were talking about kids names and I said I really loved the name Layla and I would name her that when I had a girl her name would be Layla and sure enough our gender ultrasound we found out we were having a girl

    • i love the name layla not only because it is a amazing song but because my parents we gonna name me a lot of things but when they heard the song layla they thought it was a beautiful name so they named me that.

  12. I picked the name because when I was 18 I said when I have kids at some point I want my daughter to be Layla, I was listening to other parents call there kids names and one of them was named
    Layla and I just liked it

  13. My 4 yr old niece actually picked her name out and her middle name is rose bc layla stands for beautiful rose and that’s exactly what she is a beautiful rose

  14. I picked layla because I didn’t often hear that name and thought it was a beautiful name

  15. I love that it sounds the same in English and Spanish.

  16. It was one of my favorite names for girls, and it pays homage to my Middle Eastern heritage.

  17. I had spent the first 3 months of my pregnancy thinking I was having a boy so the day of the ultrasound, when I found out otherwise, I scrambled to find a girl name. I viewed a “500 baby girl names” video and Layla just felt right. So now I have Layla Lee! Everyone assumes I’m an Eric Clapton fan, but I’m not, so that’s something to get used to with this name.

  18. Got my daughters name from her uncle who passed away the day we were supposed to have our first ultrasound, greg also metiond if cooper was a girl he was going to be layla then cooper passed away and we found out we were having the first girl of the family

  19. My husband is Arabic & wanted an Arabic name that was “American” sounding or easy to pronounce.
    I’m tired of hearing, “You must be an Eric Clapton fan.”

  20. In our blended family…with Layla being our sixth kiddo “together”…I was just so thrilled to be pregnant again and that we had chose to add onto our family that I didn’t mind one bit the gender nor did I mind what the baby’s name was…so we opted out of finding out what he/she was until the baby was born and my husband had a boy name picked out and a girl name picked out…she ended up being a girl so…he gave her the name Layla…which I just love! He said he chose that name as a twist to his grandma’s name, Lelah, who passed away the month before Layla was born. Layla, though she is 5 now and loves her name, is over people singing Eric Clapton’s song Layla to her. Hahaha!


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