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Kaila

Feminine · “crown”

1964high 1991
#2117 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare88 girls in 2025

Kaila is a crown in Yiddish — from Kayle, itself from the Hebrew Kelila — and it is separately a Hawaiian form of Kayla.

How old is the name Kaila?

Kaila first appears in US birth records in 1964 — 61 years ago. The typical Kaila alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 14,500 people named Kaila are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Kaila most popular?

Kaila peaked in 1991, reaching #369 nationally. Today it ranks #2117, 1,748 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.

Compare this nameMore “K” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Kaila

Kelila is a Hebrew word for a wreath or crown, and Yiddish naming produced Kayle from it, standard in Ashkenazi communities for centuries. Kayla rose in American use in the 1980s from a different and less certain direction. Kaila sits between them and appears in the registers in current use.

Meaningscholars disagree

crown, garland

Two routes. The Yiddish Kayle, from the Hebrew kelila, 'crown' or 'garland'. Or a modern respelling of Kayla, itself of unsettled origin, possibly from Kelila or from Michaela. The Hebrew crown reading is the better documented of the two.

How the name formed

  1. kelila
  2. Kayle
  3. Kaila

Related forms: קיילע · Kayla · Kelila

Pronouncing Kaila

KY-luh

Two syllables, stress on the first. Some bearers say KAY-luh instead.

Nicknames for Kaila

Moderate

KaiThe front of the name, and a name in its own right that is fully current
KayA near-homophone clipping, and a name of its own with a long record
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1964–202569834906988819642025

US babies named Kaila per year from 1964 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#3691960s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1964
Most girls named
1991698 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#369reached in 1991
Change vs 2024
−24.8%88 in 2025, from 117
Kaila sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1991, with 698 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.

Kaila in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • קיילע in Yiddish — related form
  • Kayla in English — related form
  • Kelila in Hebrew — related form

Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, New Jersey.

Kailas among us

14,500

people named Kaila are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 girl in 18,264 born in 2025 was named Kaila

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Kaila

#2117
Kaila on the 2025 chart
#303
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kaila went to 88 girls in 2025, but Kayla, Kaylah and Cayla and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 8 spellings went to 1,044, which makes it the 303rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,814 places above the chart.

and 1 rarer spelling.

About 1 girl in 1,540 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 18,264 for Kaila itself.

Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Queen test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kaila's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Queen climbed just as high around 1907, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Queen's path sketches the road Kaila is walking now.

40%chance Kaila will feel dated by 2040
Kaila, aligned on its peakQueen· peak 1907not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-30 yrs+70 yrsQueen · #3179Kaila today
Kaila today is about where Queen stood in 1941 — 34 years past a #369-sized peak. By 1956, Queen had settled around #719.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Kaila sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.

A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored

Where Kaila is headed

19642030

US babies named Kaila per year, 1964 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Kaila should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.

Steady-1% by 2030projected around #2,251 in 2030

Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.

A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.

Kaila beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Kaila in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Kailathis name88#2117Anylah88#2117Krystal88#2117Jean88#2117Taelynn88#2117

US girls given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • The crown meaning is concrete where the Hebrew route holds.
  • Kai and Kay are two short forms, both with real records.
  • Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk once heard.
What to consider
  • The pronunciation splits between KY-luh and KAY-luh.
  • Kayla is far commoner in American use.
  • The origin is genuinely split between two routes.

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Kaila

Feminine · #2117 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Kailas are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 14,500 people named Kaila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Kaila?
Kaila is one of 7 recorded spellings. Kayla is the more common one — 838 births in 2025 against 88 for Kaila.
How popular is the name Kaila in 2025?
Kaila ranks #2117 among US girl names in 2025, with 88 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Kaila?
About 1 in every 18,264 US girls born in 2025 was named Kaila — 88 in all.
Will my child share the name Kaila with classmates?
Kaila will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Kaila

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Anylah#2117 · Krystal#2117 · Jean#2117 · Taelynn#2117 · Adelia#2117 · Aoife#2117 · Chany#2117 · Nahomy#2117

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kaila? See the current top 100.

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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