Head to head · Girls' names
Layla vs Luna
#36 vs #27 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Luna is a whisker ahead (#27 vs #36 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, Luna leads 4 measures of 6; Layla 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: Layla —, Luna #488 — Luna higher
- 1890s: Layla —, Luna #551 — Luna higher
- 1900s: Layla —, Luna #652 — Luna higher
- 1910s: Layla —, Luna #938 — Luna higher
- 1920s: Layla —, Luna #1258 — Luna higher
- 1930s: Layla —, Luna #1989 — Luna higher
- 1940s: Layla —, Luna #3186 — Luna higher
- 1950s: Layla #5047, Luna #5080 — Layla higher
- 1960s: Layla #5249, Luna #5630 — Layla higher
- 1970s: Layla #1527, Luna #6597 — Layla higher
- 1980s: Layla #1296, Luna #6428 — Layla higher
- 1990s: Layla #961, Luna #3108 — Layla higher
- 2000s: Layla #182, Luna #757 — Layla higher
- 2010s: Layla #30, Luna #144 — Layla higher
- 2020s: Layla #30, Luna #14 — Luna higher
Luna stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Luna took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Layla | Luna |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #488 |
| 1890s | — | #551 |
| 1900s | — | #652 |
| 1910s | — | #938 |
| 1920s | — | #1258 |
| 1930s | — | #1989 |
| 1940s | — | #3186 |
| 1950s | #5047 | #5080 |
| 1960s | #5249 | #5630 |
| 1970s | #1527 | #6597 |
| 1980s | #1296 | #6428 |
| 1990s | #961 | #3108 |
| 2000s | #182 | #757 |
| 2010s | #30 | #144 |
| 2020s | #30 | #14 |
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
Luna
- France#33
- Canada#37
- England & Wales#48
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.
Luna
Moon
Directly from Latin lūna, 'moon' — the same root behind English 'lunar'.
Latin lūna (moon) → Luna (Roman goddess of the moon) → Luna
How it traveled
The word came first: lūna, the Latin for moon, which in Roman religion was also a goddess, worshipped alongside Sol and matched in Greek myth by Selene. Because Latin gave way to Italian, Spanish, Catalan and Romanian, 'luna' survived as an everyday word in each of them, which is why the name feels native in so many places at once.
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.
Luna
LOO-nuh
Said the same way in English, Spanish and Italian, with a slightly crisper final vowel in the latter two: LOO-nah. Very little room for error in any of them.
- Lu — The most common short form; informal, used at home more than on paper.
- Lulu — Affectionate, and a stand-alone given name in its own right in English and French.
- Lunita — Spanish diminutive, used affectionately in Spanish-speaking families.
- Luney — Heard informally, though the sound-alike 'loony' means some families steer away from it.
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 newer arrivalLayla entered the US charts in 1950
Choose Luna if you want…
- a long American recordLuna was already in use when US records began in 1880
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.
Luna
Strengths
- One spelling, one pronunciation. Almost no one will need to ask how to write it or say it.
- Works unchanged in Spanish, Italian and Romanian, where it is also simply the word for the moon.
- Currently charts in France, Canada and England & Wales as well as the US — it travels without translation.
To consider
- The name's whole wave is recent, so nearly everyone carrying it is a child. That will pass as this generation grows, but for now it reads young.
- 'Lunatic' and 'loony' come from the same Latin root, and children find that sooner or later. Most Lunas hear it once and move on.
- It is also a very popular name for dogs and cats, which comes up more often than parents expect.
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 Layla and Luna 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 Luna?
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 that carry both names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Generation Alpha names (born 2013 onward)
- Two-syllable names, the American default
- all guides
Every list here names both Layla and Luna — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Layla or Luna — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Layla or Luna?
- Luna, in 2025: Luna ranked #27 with 6,076 babies; Layla ranked #36 with 5,338 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Layla or Luna?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Layla moved down 12 places; Luna moved down 13 places.
- Which is the older name, Layla or Luna?
- Layla entered the US charts in 1950; Luna was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Luna is the older name.
- How many people are named Layla and Luna?
- About 128,000 people named Layla are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 85,500 people named Luna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Laylas or Lunas in the classroom?
- Layla will almost certainly be the only one in school. Luna 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, Luna 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