Laela
Feminine · “Night”
Laela is one of a dozen American spellings of Layla, and the name underneath is Arabic for night. What put it into English was not immigration but a record: Eric Clapton's Layla, released in 1970 and written about a woman he could not have.
How old is the name Laela?
Laela first appears in US birth records in 1972 — 53 years ago. The typical Laela alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 1,700 people named Laela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Laela most popular?
Laela peaked in 2009, reaching #1889 nationally. Today it ranks #5554, 3,665 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From laylā to Laela
The story of Laela
Layla and Majnun is the great Arabic and Persian love story — a poet driven mad by a woman he cannot marry, told by Nizami in 1188 and across the Islamic world since. Clapton took the story from an English translation, wrote Layla about Pattie Boyd, and released it in 1970; the record made the name familiar to millions of English speakers who had never met an Arabic name. American use climbed slowly after that and then very steeply from 2000, entering the top thirty. The spellings multiplied with the climb: Layla, Leila, Laila, Leyla, Laela and Lila all appear, with Laela peaking in 2009.
Meaning
Night
From Arabic laylā, night. The reading is settled and undisputed. Laela is a phonetic American respelling; the ae writes the long a that Layla's ay writes, and neither corresponds to anything in the Arabic script. Hebrew laylah, also night, is the same Semitic word and is occasionally offered as a separate source.
How the name formed
- laylā
- Layla
- Laela
Related forms: ليلى · Leili · Leyla · Layla
Pronouncing Laela
LAY-lah
Two syllables, stress on the first. The ae is a long a. Some families say LEE-lah, following Leila, and the spelling leaves it open.
Nicknames for Laela
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
- 1972
- Most girls named
- 2009111 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1889reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- −43.6%22 in 2025, from 39
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.
Laela in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- ليلى in Arabic — related form
- Leili in Persian — related form
- Leyla in Turkish — related form
- Layla in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Pennsylvania.
Laelas among us
people named Laela are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 73,058 born in 2025 was named Laela
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Laela
- #5554
- Laela on the 2025 chart
- #932
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Laela went to 22 girls in 2025, but Laella is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 28, which makes it the 932nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,622 places above the chart.
- Laela22
- Laella6
About 1 girl in 57,402 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 73,058 for Laela 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 Revonda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Laela's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Revonda climbed just as high around 1962, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Revonda's path sketches the road Laela is walking now.
Laela 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
Laela beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Laela in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled, short and evocative.
- It carries one of the great love stories of world literature.
- Everyone can say it after one hearing.
- Layla is the standard spelling and will be written for it.
- At least six spellings of this name are in the American records.
- The first vowel is said two ways and the spelling does not settle it.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Laela to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Laela? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Laela
Feminine · #5554 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Laelas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Laela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Laela?
- Laela is the most-used spelling in US records — 22 of the 28 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Laella.
- How popular is the name Laela in 2025?
- Laela ranks #5554 among US girl names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Laela?
- About 1 in every 73,058 US girls born in 2025 was named Laela — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Laela with classmates?
- Laela will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Laela
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eda#5554 · Phebe#5554 · Felicia#5554 · Audie#5554 · Maryellen#5554 · Warren#5554 · Ruthann#5554 · Nettie#5554
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Laela? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Laela and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle