boy's name
Iarla
EER-la
- Origin Irish
- Gender Boy
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (Ireland)
- Births on record 586
Ireland
#149
2025 births
Iarla is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "earl," borrowed into Irish from the Vikings and now used as a given name. It ranks 149th in Ireland and is rising in our data.
- Iarla is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in Ireland in 2021, when 51 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 1,282 babies in Ireland is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1981.
Iarla over time
Births per decade in Ireland, 1980s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1980s | 3 |
| 1990s | 7 |
| 2000s | 42 |
| 2010s | 262 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 234 |
What Iarla means
Iarla means earl, or nobleman. The word is a Norse loan into Irish — jarl — so a name that reads as thoroughly Gaelic is in fact a Scandinavian import that Irish absorbed and kept.
Where Iarla comes from
Iarla is the Irish word for an earl, borrowed from the Old Norse jarl during the centuries of Viking settlement, and the same word gives the English earl through the Old English eorl. Its use as a given name is modern: iarla appears throughout Irish records as a title — Iarla Chill Dara, the Earl of Kildare — long before anyone was christened with it. That makes Iarla one of a small group of Irish names taken from ordinary vocabulary rather than revived from the medieval name-stock, alongside Cuan and Croíadh. It is frequently confused with Iarlaith, the separate name of the saint of Tuam, which is older and has a different derivation entirely. The singer Iarla Ó Lionáird has carried the name internationally through sean-nós.
Iarla in use
Iarla ranks 149th in Ireland with 35 births in 2025 and 240th in Northern Ireland, and it is rising in our data with a peak in 2021. Our records carry it from 1981. It appears in no other market we hold. Iarlaith, the older and unrelated name, ranks separately at 85th in Ireland, and the two are constantly mistaken for each other.
How popular is Iarla?
In 2025, Iarla was given to 35 babies in Ireland, ranking #149 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Iarla 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 Iarla is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Íarla | Íarla is a rare spelling of Iarla, written with a fada and recorded 7 times, mostly in Ireland. | 7 |
Names that peaked alongside Iarla
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Iarla also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Iarla over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Iarla 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 Iarla
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Iarla — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Iarla
What does the name Iarla mean?
Iarla means "earl" — a Norse loanword, jarl, that Irish absorbed during the Viking settlement.
Is Iarla the same as Iarlaith?
No. Iarlaith is the older name of the saint of Tuam, with a separate and unresolved derivation.
Is Iarla a traditional Irish name?
The word is old, but its use as a given name is modern — our records carry it only from 1981.
How do you pronounce Iarla?
EER-la, two syllables.
How popular is the name Iarla?
In 2025, Iarla was given to 35 babies in Ireland, ranking #149 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Iarla a girl's or a boy's name?
Iarla is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
When was Iarla most popular?
Iarla peaked in 2021, when 51 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Iarla a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Iarla currently ranks #149 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.