Layah
Feminine · “night”
Layah is night, most likely. Arabic layla is the word, and it carries one of the great love stories of the Islamic world — the poet who went mad for a woman named Layla and became a byword for it.
How old is the name Layah?
Layah first appears in US birth records in 1995 — 30 years ago. The typical Layah is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,400 people named Layah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Layah most popular?
Layah peaked in 2016, reaching #2068 nationally. Today it ranks #2933, 865 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From layla to Layah
The story of Layah
The story of Layla and Majnun is told across the Arabic, Persian, Turkish and South Asian worlds: a young poet falls in love with Layla, is refused her, and goes into the desert reciting verses until he is called majnun, possessed. Nizami's twelfth-century Persian version is the one most retold. That story made Layla a name with weight rather than only a pretty sound. It reached English-speaking countries in the twentieth century and produced a long list of spellings — Layla, Leila, Laila, Layah — of which this is among the more recent.
Meaningscholars disagree
night — through Layla
Arabic layla means night, specifically one night rather than night in general, and Layla is the name built on it; that reading is documented. But Layah also serves as a spelling of Leah, the Hebrew name from Genesis whose own meaning has never been settled — weariness and an Akkadian word for a cow have both been proposed. Two unrelated Semitic names, one American spelling, and no way to tell them apart on paper.
How the name formed
- layla
- Layla
- Layah
Related forms: Layla · Leyli · Leyla · Leah
Pronouncing Layah
LAY-ah
Two syllables, stress on the first. LY-lah is the Arabic name this most resembles and has an l in the middle that this spelling does not; LEE-ah is the Leah reading. All three circulate, which is the practical difficulty with the spelling.
Nicknames for Layah
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
- 1995
- Most girls named
- 201695 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2068reached in 2016
- Change vs 2024
- +18.8%57 in 2025, from 48
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.
Layah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Layla in Arabic — related form
- Leyli in Persian — related form
- Leyla in Turkish — related form
- Leah in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Layahs among us
people named Layah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 28,198 born in 2025 was named Layah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Layah
- #2933
- Layah on the 2025 chart
- #670
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Layah went to 57 girls in 2025, but Laya, Laia and Laiya and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 301, which makes it the 670th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,263 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 5,340 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 28,198 for Layah 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 Steffani test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Layah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Steffani climbed just as high around 1990, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Steffani's path sketches the road Layah is walking now.
Layah 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 Layah is headed
Layah should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Layah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Layah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two open syllables that every English speaker manages at first sight.
- Five letters, nothing silent, and easy for a small child to write.
- Stands near two genuinely old and well-loved names.
- Layla and Leah are both far more common, and this spelling will be corrected to one or the other.
- Several pronunciations circulate, so the child will be correcting people constantly.
- Its meaning depends on which of two unrelated names it is standing on.
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What they receive
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Layah
Feminine · #2933 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Layahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Layah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Layah?
- Layah is one of 6 recorded spellings. Laya is the more common one — 137 births in 2025 against 57 for Layah.
- How popular is the name Layah in 2025?
- Layah ranks #2933 among US girl names in 2025, with 57 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Layah?
- About 1 in every 28,198 US girls born in 2025 was named Layah — 57 in all.
- Will my child share the name Layah with classmates?
- Layah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Layah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jailyne#2933 · Melisa#2933 · Ivori#2933 · Taylynn#2933 · Tali#2933 · Azlynn#2933 · Blima#2933 · Eulalia#2933
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Layah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Layah and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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