Layla
Meaning
"night," from the Arabic layl; the beloved of the seventh-century romance of Layla and Majnun, an impossible love retold for centuries in Arabic and Persian verse and, much later, in Western song. Lush, lyrical, easy everywhere
The story
Layla is the Arabic layl, night, and it carries one of the oldest love stories on earth: the seventh-century romance of Layla and Majnun, the poet driven mad with love for her, retold for centuries in Arabic and Persian verse. Much later the story crossed into Western music, when Eric Clapton, moved by that same legend, made Layla the title of one of rock's most famous songs in 1970. American records show a small first stir in the song's wake, then the real climb from the 1990s through the 2000s to a 2010s peak, generations after the song and centuries after the poem. Whatever finally tipped it, the appeal is easy to hear, two liquid syllables that glide like the night they name. Layla has settled only slightly since, still lush, lyrical, and easy in nearly any language.
Layla around the world
One shared root links 7 names across 3 languages.
Shared root: from Arabic layl "night", spread by the seventh-century romance of Layla and Majnun
The constellation
More branches
Layla in song
Layla
Derek and the Dominos (1970)
Eric Clapton's howl of unrequited love for his best friend's wife, named after a Persian love poem and famous for the long piano coda that arrives out of nowhere.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Layla peaked in the 2010s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
20,577 people · the #1,043 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 9,901 · median age 11
Among people named Layla living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 4,669 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Layla
Most people given the name Layla in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Layla deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Layla truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Layla fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Layla travels
Arab American · night (one of the most successful Arab American crossover names; genuinely Arabic in origin, yet independently a top-100 U.S. girls' name)
Somali · traditionally meaning night
Keep exploring
Names like Layla · Middle names for Layla · Somali baby names · Arab American baby names · Arabic baby names
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