Head to head · Girls' names
Laila vs Nalani
#413 vs #414 in 2025
Laila is a whisker ahead (#413 vs #414 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Laila is stepping back from its peak, Nalani is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Nalani has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Laila leads 5 measures of 6; Nalani leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Laila #851, Nalani — — Laila higher
- 1890s: Laila #1517, Nalani — — Laila higher
- 1900s: Laila #1887, Nalani — — Laila higher
- 1910s: Laila #1672, Nalani — — Laila higher
- 1920s: Laila #2302, Nalani — — Laila higher
- 1930s: Laila #2684, Nalani — — Laila higher
- 1940s: Laila #3448, Nalani #3939 — Laila higher
- 1950s: Laila #3025, Nalani #4982 — Laila higher
- 1960s: Laila #2685, Nalani #5809 — Laila higher
- 1970s: Laila #2017, Nalani #5164 — Laila higher
- 1980s: Laila #1703, Nalani #5376 — Laila higher
- 1990s: Laila #1508, Nalani #3754 — Laila higher
- 2000s: Laila #286, Nalani #1804 — Laila higher
- 2010s: Laila #162, Nalani #1056 — Laila higher
- 2020s: Laila #313, Nalani #546 — Laila higher
Laila stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Laila | Nalani |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #851 | — |
| 1890s | #1517 | — |
| 1900s | #1887 | — |
| 1910s | #1672 | — |
| 1920s | #2302 | — |
| 1930s | #2684 | — |
| 1940s | #3448 | #3939 |
| 1950s | #3025 | #4982 |
| 1960s | #2685 | #5809 |
| 1970s | #2017 | #5164 |
| 1980s | #1703 | #5376 |
| 1990s | #1508 | #3754 |
| 2000s | #286 | #1804 |
| 2010s | #162 | #1056 |
| 2020s | #313 | #546 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Laila
night
From Arabic layl, night — the same root behind Layla and Leyla. There is a second, unrelated road: in Norway, Sweden and Finland, Laila is documented as a form of the Sámi name Láilá, itself connected to Helga. Same spelling, two separate origins, and both are genuinely in use.
Laylā (Arabic) → Layla → Leyla → Laila
How it traveled
The Arabic ليلى (Laylā) belongs to a story older than most European literature: Qays, so consumed by love for Layla that he was called Majnun, the madman. Nizami Ganjavi shaped it into a Persian narrative poem in the twelfth century, and from there it traveled through Turkish, Urdu, Kurdish and Malay retellings, carrying the name with it.
Nalani
the heavens, the skies
Hawaiian lani genuinely holds two senses at once: sky or heaven, and royalty — high chiefs were addressed with it. So "the heavens" and "the royal ones" are both faithful readings of the same word, not competing guesses.
lani → nā lani → Nālani → Nalani
How it traveled
The name comes from the Hawaiian language, where nā is the plural article and lani means sky or heaven. Written in full Hawaiian orthography it takes a macron — Nālani — and it belongs to the same word-stock as Leilani, Kalani and Lanikai, all of which put lani to work.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Laila
LAY-lah
LAY-lah is the standard reading in the US and matches the Arabic. Some English speakers seeing it cold will try LIE-lah, and in parts of Scandinavia LIE-la is the usual pronunciation — worth expecting the question once or twice a year.
- Lala — The most common family short form; informal, mostly used by parents and younger siblings.
- Lai — Clipped one-syllable form used among friends; rarely written down.
- Lulu — Informal pet form, not derived from the letters so much as attached to them.
- Lay — Occasional playground shortening in English-speaking settings.
Nalani
nah-LAH-nee
Three even syllables with the weight in the middle; in Hawaiian every vowel is pronounced, so no part of it goes soft. In American English you will also hear NAL-uh-nee, with the first vowel flattened.
- Lani — The obvious short form, and a given name in its own right in Hawaii and on the mainland.
- Nala — Informal, family-and-friends use; also a separate name of its own, which can cause a moment of confusion.
- Nani — Informal; a standalone Hawaiian name as well, so it may read as a different name rather than a nickname.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Laila if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsLaila is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesLaila is 2 syllables to Nalani's 3
Choose Nalani if you want…
- a name on the way upup 179 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itNalani runs 3 syllables, Laila 2
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Laila
Strengths
- Recognized across Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Urdu and Scandinavian naming traditions, with the spelling intact in all of them.
- Short, two syllables, no silent letters, and easy for a small child to say and write early.
- A documented literary history going back to a twelfth-century Persian poem, plus a famous song built on the same story.
To consider
- Layla, Leila, Leyla and Laela all sound the same aloud, so expect to spell it often. Laila is well established, but it is not the version most Americans reach for first.
- A minority of readers will say LIE-lah on sight. It is a one-second correction, not a lifelong burden, but it will recur.
- The Clapton song is a strong association for older generations and may come up as a joke or a comment more than once.
Nalani
Strengths
- Spells itself: readers get to nah-LAH-nee from the letters on the page without help.
- Lani is an established short form that also works as a full given name, so there is a ready informal option.
- A documented meaning in a living language — Hawaiian nā lani, the heavens — not a guess or a reconstruction.
To consider
- Outside Hawaiian, the macron in Nālani usually disappears, and with it the cue to give the first vowel its full sound. Expect to correct a flattened NAL-uh-nee now and then.
- It is easily confused with Nalini, a separate name of Sanskrit origin, and with spellings like Nalanie or Nailani. Some repeating will be part of life.
- This is a Hawaiian name with real cultural weight — lani is the word used for chiefs as well as skies. Families with no ties to Hawaii sometimes want to think about that before choosing it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Laila and Nalani in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Laila and Nalani?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names far more common than their rank admits
- Hawaiian names full of ocean light
- The best baby names starting with N
- all guides
Where Laila and Nalani each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Laila or Nalani — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Laila or Nalani?
- Laila, in 2025: Laila ranked #413 with 755 babies; Nalani ranked #414 with 754 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Laila or Nalani?
- Nalani. Over the last five years Laila moved down 186 places; Nalani moved up 179 places.
- Which is the older name, Laila or Nalani?
- Laila entered the US charts in 1884; Nalani entered the US charts in 1946. On the American record, Laila is the older name.
- How many people are named Laila and Nalani?
- About 42,500 people named Laila are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 7,900 people named Nalani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Lailas or Nalanis in the classroom?
- Laila will almost certainly be the only one in school. Nalani will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Laila, Nalani and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap