girl's name
Ayla
AY-luh
- Origin Turkish
- Gender Girl
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 59,124
the United States
#77
2025 births
Ayla is a girl's name with several unrelated origins. In Turkish it means "halo around the moon," from ay, moon. In Hebrew it means "oak tree" or "doe," and it is also read as a Scottish variant of Isla.
- Ayla is a name of Turkish origin.
- Peaked in 2024, when 3,253 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,053 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1963.
Ayla over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1960s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 6 |
| 1970s | 15 |
| 1980s | 1,058 |
| 1990s | 2,431 |
| 2000s | 5,637 |
| 2010s | 12,566 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 16,327 |
What Ayla means
Ayla has no single meaning because it exists independently in several languages. Turkish gives moonlight or moon halo, Hebrew gives oak tree or doe, and the Scottish reading treats it as a spelling of Isla, meaning island.
Where Ayla comes from
Ayla arrives from at least three directions. Turkish Ayla is a genuine and common name from ay, meaning moon, with a suffix giving the sense of moonlight or the halo that appears around the moon — it is the same element behind Aylin. Hebrew has Ayla or Ela, connected to elah, the terebinth or oak, and to ayelet, a doe, both well attested in Israeli naming. English speakers also use it as a variant of the Scottish Isla. A further boost came from Jean M. Auel's novel The Clan of the Cave Bear in 1980, whose protagonist is named Ayla, and United States birth records show the name rising from around that period.
Ayla in use
Turkish, Hebrew and Scottish naming traditions arrived at this spelling independently, and all three uses are live.
How popular is Ayla?
In 2025, Ayla was given to 3,149 babies in the United States, ranking #77 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Ayla is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Ayla
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Ayla also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ayla over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Ayla in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Ayla
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ayla — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Ayla
What does the name Ayla mean?
It depends on the language — "halo around the moon" in Turkish, "oak tree" or "doe" in Hebrew, and "island" if read as a form of Isla.
Is Ayla a Turkish name?
Yes, and a common one, from ay meaning moon — though Hebrew and Scottish lines exist independently.
Is Ayla related to Isla?
English speakers sometimes use it as a variant of the Scottish Isla, but the Turkish and Hebrew names are unrelated to it.
How popular is the name Ayla?
In 2025, Ayla was given to 3,149 babies in the United States, ranking #77 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Is Ayla a girl's or a boy's name?
Ayla is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Ayla most popular?
Ayla peaked in 2024, when 3,253 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Ayla a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ayla currently ranks #39 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.