Head to head · Girls' names
Layla vs Lillian
#36 vs #57 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Layla is a whisker ahead (#36 vs #57 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Lillian leads 3 measures of 6; Layla leads 2.
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: Layla —, Lillian #27 — Lillian higher
- 1890s: Layla —, Lillian #15 — Lillian higher
- 1900s: Layla —, Lillian #12 — Lillian higher
- 1910s: Layla —, Lillian #15 — Lillian higher
- 1920s: Layla —, Lillian #26 — Lillian higher
- 1930s: Layla —, Lillian #66 — Lillian higher
- 1940s: Layla —, Lillian #124 — Lillian higher
- 1950s: Layla #5047, Lillian #192 — Lillian higher
- 1960s: Layla #5249, Lillian #273 — Lillian higher
- 1970s: Layla #1527, Lillian #408 — Lillian higher
- 1980s: Layla #1296, Lillian #417 — Lillian higher
- 1990s: Layla #961, Lillian #279 — Lillian higher
- 2000s: Layla #182, Lillian #65 — Lillian higher
- 2010s: Layla #30, Lillian #27 — Lillian higher
- 2020s: Layla #30, Lillian #52 — Layla higher
Lillian stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Layla took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Layla | Lillian |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #27 |
| 1890s | — | #15 |
| 1900s | — | #12 |
| 1910s | — | #15 |
| 1920s | — | #26 |
| 1930s | — | #66 |
| 1940s | — | #124 |
| 1950s | #5047 | #192 |
| 1960s | #5249 | #273 |
| 1970s | #1527 | #408 |
| 1980s | #1296 | #417 |
| 1990s | #961 | #279 |
| 2000s | #182 | #65 |
| 2010s | #30 | #27 |
| 2020s | #30 | #52 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Layla
- Scotland#43
- Canada#50
- England & Wales#56
Lillian
- Canada#96
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Layla
night
From Arabic layl, "night"; Laylā is the feminine form, roughly "a night" or "nocturnal".
layl (Arabic, "night") → Laylā → Leila → Layla
How it traveled
The name is Arabic, and it carries the story of Layla and Majnun with it: Qays falls so hopelessly in love with Layla that he is nicknamed Majnun, "possessed", a tale circulated among Arab poets and then retold at length by Nizami Ganjavi in Persian in the twelfth century. Through Persian, Turkish and Urdu literature the name spread across a huge stretch of the world, appearing as Leyla, Laila and Leila.
Lillian
lily
The name is generally derived from the flower, though it may equally have begun as a pet form of Elizabeth that was later reinterpreted as a flower name. Both accounts have support. The flower's own name comes into English from Latin and further back from a Mediterranean source, and the reading is straightforward whichever route the personal name took.
A Mediterranean flower carried north by cultivation → The standard symbol of purity in European art → Lily and Lilian as English names → Lillian, with the consonant doubled, in heavy American use
How it traveled
The plant was cultivated in Crete four thousand years ago, appears on Minoan frescoes, was grown by the Romans, and traveled across Europe in monastery gardens because it was needed for religious painting and for medicine. By the medieval period it was the standard attribute of the Virgin and of a long list of saints, and any painter needing to signal purity reached for it.
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
Layla
LAY-luh
The ay spelling settles the first vowel, which is the practical advantage over Leila — that one is said both LAY-luh and LEE-luh. In Arabic and Turkish the two syllables sit more evenly, closer to LAY-lah.
- Lay — Informal clipping used within families; rarely written down.
- Lala — A household nickname, common among younger siblings and in Arabic-speaking families.
- Lay-Lay — Reduplicated pet form, mostly used with small children rather than adults.
Lillian
LIL-ee-un
Three syllables, stress on the first. The doubled l does the English job of keeping the vowel before it short; with a single l the first syllable would run long and the name would be a different sound.
- Lily — The flower itself, and now a more fashionable name than the longer form.
- Lil — Flat and warm, and shared with a piece of current slang.
- Ann — The back read as a name, which is complete and has its own long history.
Who has carried each name
Layla
No documented entry for Layla yet.
Lillian
Lillian Gish (b. 1893) — The "First Lady of American Cinema"
Lillian Gilbreth (b. 1878) — Pioneering engineer — and the real mom of Cheaper by the Dozen
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Layla if you want…
- a name most people already know#36 in 2025, 5,338 babies that year
- a name with fewer syllablesLayla is 2 syllables to Lillian's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooLayla is on the national lists of Scotland, Canada and England & Wales
- a newer arrivalLayla entered the US charts in 1950
Choose Lillian if you want…
- a name fewer children share#57 in 2025 — lillian will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name with more sound in itLillian runs 3 syllables, Layla 2
- a long American recordLillian was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 80% for Layla
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
Layla
Strengths
- Works across Arabic, Turkish, Persian and English without translation or adjustment — one of the genuinely international two-syllable names.
- Phonetic in English once written: the ay spelling tells a reader exactly which vowel to use.
- A documented literary history going back to seventh-century Arabic poetry, retold in Persian, Urdu and Turkish verse.
To consider
- Leila, Laila, Leyla and Lejla are all in circulation, so she will spend a lifetime saying "Layla with a Y" at appointments and coffee counters.
- The Clapton song is inescapable for anyone who knows it, and some will sing the riff on being introduced. Whether that is charming or tiresome depends on the day.
- Sound-alikes cluster nearby — Lyla, Lila, Lily, Leila — so even if she is the only Layla in her grade, hers may not be the only name in that shape.
Lillian
Strengths
- It is completely familiar, universally spellable and needs no explaining.
- Lily is available inside it and is one of the most fashionable short names anywhere.
- It has been in continuous use for well over a century without ever sounding dated.
To consider
- Lilian with one l is the older spelling and both are standard.
- It is currently very popular again, which is a consideration in a classroom.
- The spelling is on the register for boys as well, in very small numbers.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Layla
80%chance Layla feels dated by 2040
Layla is coming down from a big peak (#23 in 2019). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Lillian
12%chance Lillian feels dated by 2040
Lillian has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Layla and Lillian 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 Layla and Lillian?
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.
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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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Layla and Lillian — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Layla or Lillian — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Layla or Lillian?
- Layla, in 2025: Layla ranked #36 with 5,338 babies; Lillian ranked #57 with 3,966 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Layla or Lillian?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Layla moved down 12 places; Lillian moved down 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Layla or Lillian?
- Layla entered the US charts in 1950; Lillian was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Lillian is the older name.
- How many people are named Layla and Lillian?
- About 128,000 people named Layla are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 209,000 people named Lillian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Laylas or Lillians in the classroom?
- Layla will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lillian will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. 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 Layla, Lillian and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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