Layla

Where Layla comes from

One of many alternative spellings of a name transliterated from Arabic; see Leila for more information. Since the late 20th century, in English, this given name in this spelling is sometimes bestowed solely because it is considered euphonious, a theme true of many given names; Wikipedia at given name § Popularity discusses name choice motivations.
— Wiktionary's entry for Layla
  • Arabic
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1944
    Layla Al-Attar born
    Iraqi artist and painter
  2. 1950
    First appearance
    #4,315 among girls, 7 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1977
    Layla El born
    British professional wrestler, dancer, and model
  4. 2019
    Peak, #23
    6,523 babies named Layla — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Arabic, variant of Leila.
Namesakes
  • Layla El · British professional wrestler, dancer, and model, born 1977
  • Layla Al-Attar · Iraqi artist and painter, 1944–1993
  • Layla al-Akhyaliyya · Famous Umayyad Arab poet who was renowned for her poetry, eloquence, strong personality as well as her beauty, 700–699
  • Layla Balabakki · Lebanese author, 1934–2023
  • Layla Moran · British politician, born 1982

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.