Girl's name
Lyla
Say it LY-luh
Arabic origin night
2 syllables
Where Lyla is loved, common and rare
Common across the UK, Ontario and three more places. Rare in British Columbia, Ireland, France and six more places.
1 in 232 girls born in Scotland in 2025
Scotland 50thEngland and Wales 61stOntario 70th
LovedCommonRare
Every place
In 16 of the 40 official lists, among them Scotland (50th), England and Wales (61st) and Ontario (70th).
Show all 16 placesShow less
| Place | Rank | Girls | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 50th 2025 | 77 | 1 in 232 |
| England and Wales | 61st 2025 | 751 | 1 in 337 |
| Ontario province | 70th 2024 | 130 | about 1 in 419 |
| Northern Ireland | 71st 2025 | 29 | 1 in 251 |
| Queensland state | 73rd 2025 | 68 | rank only |
| South Australia state | 77th 2025 | 21 | rank only |
| Victoria state | 81st 2025 | 76 | rank only |
| British Columbia province | 109th 2023 | 27 | about 1 in 443 |
| Ireland | 138th 2025 | 33 | 1 in 640 |
| France | 389th 2025 | 135 | 1 in 2,124 |
| Quebec province | 591st 2025 | 7 | about 1 in 3,715 |
| Poland | 706th 2025 | 2 | 1 in 59,894 |
| The Netherlands | 907th 2025 | 11 | about 1 in 5,547 |
| Switzerland | 1414th 2025 | 3 | 1 in 11,331 |
| Austria | 1875th 2025 | 1 | 1 in 35,722 |
| Italy | 4773rd 2024 | 1 | 1 in 179,169 |
Rare, below the listed names: New South Wales, New Zealand, Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Catalonia, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel.
Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).
Sources: National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); NISRA (Northern Ireland); Queensland Registry of BDM (Qld Open Data Portal) (Queensland); SA Attorney-General's Department, Births, Deaths and Marriages (data.sa.gov.au) (South Australia); Registry of BDM Victoria (DataVic) (Victoria); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy). How we count, and every source
About the name
Lyla is a spelling variant of Leila, from the Arabic layla, 'night', a word that goes back to an old Semitic root. The spelling with y gives it a slightly more English look while keeping the original sound close.
Read the restShow less
LY-luh has two syllables and a smooth, rolling sound, with a repeated l that makes it easy for small children to say. Leila is the more traditional spelling.
Lyla is well used in Britain, in the top fifty in Scotland, and it ranks in England and Wales and in Ontario. It is used only lightly in France, Poland and the Netherlands. It is rising in four countries and falling in none, and in France it peaked around 2021, so it remains a name on the way up in several places.
Meaning, origin, pronunciation
- Pronounced
- LY-luh, 2 syllables
- Meaning
night
- Origin
- Arabic
- Other spellings
- Leila
Etymology
A spelling variant of Leila, from Arabic layla, from Proto-Semitic *laylay- "night".
From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.
Over time
Over five years: rising in 4 of 8 regions, falling in none.
Show the yearsShow less
Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.
Ten years of ranks
Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.
| Region | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 104 | 95 | 97 | 98 | 97 | 76 | 80 | 76 | 74 | 61 |
| Scotland | 159 | 113 | 120 | 100 | 130 | 74 | 71 | 70 | 68 | 50 |
| Northern Ireland | 137 | 130 | 126 | 167 | 119 | 89 | 71 | 102 | 110 | 71 |
| Ireland | 302 | 260 | 196 | 271 | 220 | 177 | 169 | 118 | 126 | 138 |
| Ontario | 112 | 104 | 95 | 89 | 90 | 116 | 77 | 87 | 70 | |
| British Columbia | 113 | 121 | 91 | 138 | 115 | 90 | 99 | 109 | ||
| New South Wales | 96 | 81 | ||||||||
| Victoria | 81 | |||||||||
| Queensland | 85 | 77 | 73 | |||||||
| South Australia | 96 | 98 | 91 | 81 | 92 | 88 | 77 | |||
| Quebec | 831 | 799 | 559 | 715 | 526 | 404 | 534 | 403 | 787 | 591 |
| France | 387 | 417 | 406 | 383 | 368 | 344 | 377 | 429 | 419 | 389 |
| The Netherlands | 907 | |||||||||
| Switzerland | 1279 | 1116 | 1148 | 773 | 1180 | 970 | 1298 | 1310 | 1826 | 1414 |
England and Wales, 1996 to 2025
| Year | Rank | Girls | per 100,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 61 | 751 | 296.5 |
| 2024 | 74 | 634 | 245.7 |
| 2023 | 76 | 610 | 237.8 |
| 2022 | 80 | 620 | 235.3 |
| 2021 | 76 | 667 | 243.4 |
| 2020 | 97 | 517 | 192.6 |
| 2019 | 98 | 531 | 189.6 |
| 2018 | 97 | 539 | 187.0 |
| 2017 | 95 | 563 | 188.2 |
| 2016 | 104 | 553 | 180.0 |
| 2015 | 121 | 481 | 156.2 |
| 2014 | 113 | 497 | 162.1 |
| 2013 | 114 | 478 | 155.0 |
| 2012 | 132 | 431 | 133.8 |
| 2011 | 152 | 353 | 109.9 |
| 2010 | 159 | 330 | 102.8 |
| 2009 | 188 | 285 | 90.9 |
| 2008 | 213 | 240 | 76.0 |
| 2007 | 227 | 225 | 73.5 |
| 2006 | 253 | 185 | 61.8 |
| 2005 | 303 | 139 | 48.2 |
| 2004 | 1715 | 12 | 4.2 |
| 2003 | 1472 | 14 | 5.0 |
| 2002 | 3409 | 4 | 1.5 |
| 2001 | 2783 | 5 | 1.9 |
| 1999 | 3225 | 4 | 1.4 |
| 1996 | 3795 | 3 | 1.0 |
Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.
France since 1925
Half of the babies named Lyla in France since 1925 were born in or after 2015. First recorded in 1953. Her peak year there: 2021, at 52.5 per 100,000 girls.
Babies named Lyla per 100,000 girls born in France, by five-year period. Her 2021 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.
Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (1900-2025), Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.
Sister names for Lyla
1 in 688 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Lyla.
1 in 1,491 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Lyla.
1 in 215 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Lyla.
1 in 271 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Lyla.
1 in 459 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Lyla.
1 in 183 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Lyla.
1 in 160 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Lyla.
1 in 140 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Lyla.
1 in 280 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Lyla.
1 in 564 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Lyla.
Middle names for Lyla
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
Lyla Grace
2-1 beats · initials LG
Changes the beat after Lyla: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 71 in Scotland
Lyla Olivia
2-4 beats · initials LO · Lyla slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Lyla: 2 syllables, then 4 syllables. Lyla slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 99 in Scotland
Lyla Sophia
2-3 beats · initials LS
Changes the beat after Lyla: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 311 in Ireland
Lyla Maria
2-3 beats · initials LM
Changes the beat after Lyla: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 214 in Northern Ireland
Lyla Rose
2-1 beats · initials LR
Changes the beat after Lyla: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 78 in Northern Ireland
Lyla Emily
2-3 beats · initials LE · Lyla slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Lyla: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables. Lyla slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 491 in Ireland
Lyla Julia
2-3 beats · initials LJ
Changes the beat after Lyla: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 1,286 in England and Wales
Lyla Miriam
2-3 beats · initials LM
Changes the beat after Lyla: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
Same style as Lyla
Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.
1 in 271 in Scotland
95% alike: moves with Lyla across countries and decades.
1 in 320 in Scotland
95% alike: moves with Lyla across countries and decades.
1 in 383 in Northern Ireland
94% alike: moves with Lyla across countries and decades.
1 in 101 in Scotland
94% alike: moves with Lyla across countries and decades.
1 in 1,151 in England and Wales
93% alike: moves with Lyla across countries and decades.
1 in 183 in Scotland
93% alike: moves with Lyla across countries and decades.
1 in 662 in Northern Ireland
93% alike: moves with Lyla across countries and decades.
1 in 1,634 in England and Wales
93% alike: moves with Lyla across countries and decades.
Questions about Lyla
5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.
Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Lyla?
Her best rank is No. 50 in Scotland in 2025, about 1 in 232 girls. She is in the published lists of 16 of our 40 regions.
What does Lyla mean?
Wiktionary glosses Lyla as "night".
How do you pronounce Lyla?
LY-luh, with 2 syllables.
Is Lyla getting more popular?
Over five years: rising in 4 of 8 regions, falling in none.
Which sister names go with Lyla?
The deck's top five sisters for Lyla: Aaliyah, Aliyah, Delilah, Callie and Scarlett. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.