Kayla
Feminine · Yiddish roots · “not settled”
Kayla is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 346,570 girls against 574 boys since 1880. See Kayla as a boy name
Kayla is one of the defining girls' names of its generation in America, two light syllables with a bright long a. It has more than one possible source and has never been tied to a single one, which makes it a name that belongs mostly to the people who have carried it.
How old is the name Kayla?
Kayla first appears in US birth records in 1933 — 92 years ago. The typical Kayla alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 341,000 people named Kayla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kayla most popular?
Kayla peaked in 1995, reaching #11 nationally. Today it ranks #364, 353 places below that high. See the whole 1995 chart.
Where it comes from
From Kyle / Kayla (Yiddish) / Kay to Kayla
The story of Kayla
Kayla came into American use from several directions at once, and no single story explains why so many families chose it. Once it was familiar it grew a family of spellings of its own. Its best-known bearer in sport is Kayla Harrison, a judoka from Ohio who became the first American, man or woman, to win Olympic gold in judo, and then won it a second time. The name is recorded for a very small number of boys as well, but in practice it is a girl's name.
Meaningscholars disagree
not settled; linked to Kyle and to a Yiddish Kayla
Kayla has two serious roots. One is Kyle, from Scottish Gaelic caol, narrow or slender, with a feminine ending. The other is an older Yiddish woman's name, Kayla or Keyle. Many American families also heard it simply as Kay with -la added. None of these has been shown to be the source.
How the name formed
- Kyle / Kayla / KayYiddish
- Kayla
Related forms: Keyle · Kaila · Kaylah
Pronouncing Kayla
KAY-luh
Two syllables with the stress on the first; the ay is the long a of day.
Nicknames for Kayla
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1933
- Most girls named
- 199017,538 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #11reached in 1995
- Change vs 2023
- −12.0%838 in 2025, from 952
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.
Kayla in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Keyle in Yiddish — related form
- Kaila in English — spelling variant
- Kaylah in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Kaylas among us
people named Kayla are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,918 born in 2025 was named Kayla
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kayla
- #364
- Kayla on the 2025 chart
- #303
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kayla went to 838 girls in 2025, but Kaila, 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 — 61 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 1,918 for Kayla 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
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Brenda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kayla's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Brenda climbed just as high around 1961, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Brenda's path sketches the road Kayla is walking now.
Kayla is coming down from a big peak (#11 in 1995). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Kayla is headed
Kayla is easing off slowly — about 19% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
High 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.
Kayla beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kayla in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is easy to say and spell, and nearly everyone knows it.
- It sounds warm and friendly.
- It works in many languages without changing.
- It is closely tied to one generation, so a Kayla will often share her name with classmates and co-workers of her age.
- There is no settled meaning to give when someone asks; the honest answer is that it has several possible roots.
- A very few boys have been given it; for them it will read as a girl's name everywhere.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Kayla
Feminine · Yiddish roots · #364 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kaylas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 341,000 people named Kayla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kayla?
- Kayla is the most-used spelling in US records — 838 of the 1,044 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kaila, Kaylah, Cayla, Kailah, Caila and Khaila.
- How popular is the name Kayla in 2025?
- Kayla ranks #364 among US girl names in 2025, with 838 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kayla?
- About 1 in every 1,918 US girls born in 2025 was named Kayla — 838 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kayla with classmates?
- Kayla will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kayla
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Matilda#364 · Helena#363 · Adriana#366 · Ariyah#366 · Briella#362 · Camilla#361 · Gwendolyn#360 · Alaya#368
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kayla? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kayla and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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