girl's name
Cadhla
KY-luh
- Origin Irish
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 100 (Ireland)
- Births on record 945
Northern Ireland
#83
2024 births
Cadhla is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "beautiful" or "graceful," which was a men's name for the whole of its recorded history until recently. It ranks 83rd in Northern Ireland.
- Cadhla is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in Ireland in 2025, when 59 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 816 babies in Ireland is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1994.
Cadhla over time
Births per decade in Ireland, 1990s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1990s | 10 |
| 2000s | 69 |
| 2010s | 155 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 282 |
What Cadhla means
Cadhla means beautiful, graceful or comely. The Irish word describes appearance and bearing together, and it was applied to men as readily as to women in the period when the name was actually in use.
Where Cadhla comes from
Cadhla comes from the Irish cadhla, beautiful or graceful. Its historical bearer is Cadhla Ua Dubhthaigh, archbishop of Tuam in the twelfth century, who was one of the churchmen present at the submission of the Irish kings to Henry the Second and who negotiated the Treaty of Windsor in 1175 on behalf of Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair. The name was male throughout the medieval record and only reappeared in modern Irish use as a girl's name, following the same reversal as Ailbhe. It is sometimes anglicized as Kayla, which is misleading twice over: Kayla is an American coinage of the 1950s with no Irish content, and the pronunciations are not the same. Cadhla is two syllables with the dh silent.
Cadhla in use
Cadhla ranks 83rd in Northern Ireland with 26 births in 2024 and 89th in Ireland, and it is rising in our data with a peak in 2021. Our records carry it only from 2010, making it one of the youngest names in either top hundred. Outside the island it is effectively absent — 5,892nd in England and Wales.
How popular is Cadhla?
In 2025, Cadhla was given to 55 babies in Ireland, ranking #89 that year. It is one of the most popular names in Ireland.
Where Cadhla is used
Irish figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. The Central Statistics Office began recording the síneadh fada in 2018, so accented and unaccented spellings are counted separately from that year on. Data & sources.
How Cadhla is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Cádhla | Cádhla is a rare spelling of Cadhla, written with a fada and recorded 4 times, mostly in Ireland. | 4 |
Names that peaked alongside Cadhla
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Cadhla also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Cadhla over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Cadhla 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.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Kayla
Sibling names for Cadhla
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Cadhla — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Cadhla
What does the name Cadhla mean?
Cadhla means "beautiful" or "graceful," from the Irish cadhla.
How do you pronounce Cadhla?
KY-luh, two syllables. The dh is silent.
Is Cadhla the Irish for Kayla?
No. Kayla is an American coinage from the 1950s with no Irish content, and the two do not sound alike.
Was Cadhla ever a boy's name?
It was male throughout the medieval record. Modern Irish use is for girls.
How popular is the name Cadhla?
In 2025, Cadhla was given to 55 babies in Ireland, ranking #89 that year. It is one of the most popular names in Ireland.
When was Cadhla most popular?
Cadhla peaked in 2025, when 59 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Cadhla a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Cadhla currently ranks #83 in Ireland. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.