Leila

LAY-la

Arabic

"night"

Leila Origin and Meaning

The name Leila is a girl's name of Arabic, Persian origin meaning "night".

Leila was popularized in the West by the poet Byron, who used it in his poem Don Juan for a ten-year-old Turkish girl. Leila also appears as a fairy in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera Iolanthe.

The haunting Leila been chosen by such celebs as Al Roker and Greta Scacchi and Vincent D'Onofrio. While Leila has managed to appear on the Top 1000 list in the U.S. since its inception in 1880, phonetic form Layla is now much higher on the list in America. And parents attracted to girls’ names with the double l sound will find that most examples -- from Leila to Lila to Lily and Lillian and Lilith-- are zooming up the charts and, while classics, are bordering on trendiness.

Yet another alternative is Lelia, a Latin name used in Roman times.

Leila Rank in US Top 1000

# 240 in the US

Leila Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 544 on Nameberry

Leila Popularity

• 240 US 2023
• 544 Nameberry 2024
• 233 Future 2028
• 232 England 2021
• 92 Germany 2020
• 170 Switzerland 2023

20 Names Similar to Leila

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Leila.

• Layla
• Laila
• Lila
• Lyla
• Lola
• Lena
• Lilah
• Leilani
• Leah
• Lily
• Ella
• Juliana
• Maya
• Delilah
• Lorelei
• Jasmine
• Liliana
• Mila
• Elena
• Aria

Famous People Named Leila

• Leila Aboulela Sudanese writer
• Leila Ahmed Egyptian,American professor
• Leila Diniz Brazilian actress and feminist
• Leila Barros Brazilian volleyball player
• Leila Bela American musician, actress and writer
• Leila Denmark American pediatrician
• Leila Forouhar Iranian singer and actress
• Leila Hatami Iranian actress
• Leila Hayes Australian actress
• Leila Hyams American film actress
• Leila Josefowicz American violinist
• Leila K Swedish rapper
• Leila Khaled Palestinian Militant
• Leila Lopes Miss Universe 2011 winner
• Leila McKinnon Kiwi,Australian journalist
• Leila Mourad Egyptian singer and movie star
• Leila Pahlavi Iranian princess
• Leila Sobral Brazilian basketball player
• Leila Tong Hong Kong actress and singer
• Leila Vaziri American swimmer, world record holder
• Leila Boyer (b. 2009) daughter of novelist Edwidge Danticat
• Leila Emmanuelle Mathison (b. 2006) daughter of Cameron Mathison
• Leila Rey Valencia (b. 2009) daughter of Judy Reyes

Leila in Pop Culture

• Leila character in Sharon Creech's "Bloomability"
• Leila a fairy in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera Iolanthe (1882)
• Leila Hunter character from "When in Rome"
• Leila Okulgen character in novel "Does My Head Look Big in This?"
• Leila Smith an infant "number" in TV Drama "Person of Interest"
• Leila Williams character in the fifthy shades of darker
• Leila Hope little girl character in film "Southpaw"
• Leila Mae Potter main character of the story 'Lost Along the Way' by JanuaryLily