girl's name
Layla
LAY-luh
- Origin Arabic
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 170,961
the United States
#36
2025 births
Layla is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "night." It belongs to the heroine of the seventh-century Arabic love story Layla and Majnun, one of the most influential romances in Middle Eastern literature and the direct inspiration for Eric Clapton's 1970 song.
- Layla is a name of Arabic origin.
- Peaked in 2019, when 6,528 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 621 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1950.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Layla over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1950s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 19 |
| 1960s | 24 |
| 1970s | 1,355 |
| 1980s | 1,052 |
| 1990s | 2,189 |
| 2000s | 26,246 |
| 2010s | 63,300 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 35,060 |
What Layla means
Layla means night, from the Arabic layl. In Arabic poetry night carries associations of beauty, mystery, and longing, so the name is read less as a literal time of day than as an image of dark-haired beauty.
Where Layla comes from
Layla comes from the Arabic layl, meaning night, and is attested as a personal name from the pre-Islamic period. Its literary standing rests on the story of Layla and Majnun, in which the poet Qays falls so completely in love with Layla that he is driven to madness — majnun means possessed — and wanders the desert composing verse about her. The tale was gathered into Persian by Nizami Ganjavi in the twelfth century and became one of the most retold romances in the Islamic world, comparable in reach to Romeo and Juliet in Europe. English-speaking familiarity with the name owes much to Eric Clapton's 1970 song Layla, written after he read the story.
Layla in use
Layla and Majnun is often described as the Middle Eastern counterpart to Romeo and Juliet, and predates it by centuries.
How popular is Layla?
In 2025, Layla was given to 5,338 babies in the United States, ranking #36 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Layla 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 Layla
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Layla also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Layla over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Layla
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Layla 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 Layla
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Layla — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Layla
What does the name Layla mean?
Layla means "night," from the Arabic layl.
Who was Layla in the story?
Layla is the heroine of Layla and Majnun, a classical Arabic romance in which the poet Qays is driven mad by love for her.
What is the difference between Layla and Leila?
They are transliterations of the same Arabic name into English, with Leila the older spelling.
How popular is the name Layla?
In 2025, Layla was given to 5,338 babies in the United States, ranking #36 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Is Layla a girl's or a boy's name?
Layla is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Layla?
Layla has 2 syllables.
When was Layla most popular?
Layla peaked in 2019, when 6,528 babies were given the name. Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Layla?
Layla is usually shortened to Lay.
Is Layla a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Layla currently ranks #36 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.