Naila
Feminine · “attainer”
Naila is one who attains — from the Arabic root that means to obtain or achieve, so the name describes someone who gets what she reaches for.
How old is the name Naila?
Naila first appears in US birth records in 1953 — 72 years ago. The typical Naila is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 3,200 people named Naila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Naila most popular?
Naila peaked in 2019, reaching #1083 nationally. Today it ranks #1721, 638 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From nala to Naila
The story of Naila
Na'ila bint al-Farafisa was the wife of the caliph Uthman and lost fingers defending him when he was killed in 656 — an episode that became a rallying image in the conflict that followed. The name is used across the Arabic-speaking world and South Asia, and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
attainer, one who achieves
From the Arabic na'ilah, the feminine of na'il, 'one who attains' or 'achiever', from nala, 'to obtain'. The word is ordinary Arabic and the meaning undisputed. A separate Sanskrit nila, 'blue', and a Gaelic route are sometimes claimed but are not the source.
How the name formed
- nala
- na'ilah
- Naila
Related forms: نائلة · Naila · Nailah
Pronouncing Naila
NY-lah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Arabic na'ilah has a glottal stop in the middle that English drops.
Nicknames for Naila
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
- 1953
- Most girls named
- 2019231 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1083reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- −21.3%118 in 2025, from 150
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.
Naila in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- نائلة in Arabic — transliteration
- Naila in Urdu — same name
- Nailah in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, New York.
Nailas among us
people named Naila are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 13,621 born in 2025 was named Naila
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Naila
- #1721
- Naila on the 2025 chart
- #521
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Naila went to 118 girls in 2025, but Nayla, Nailah and Naylah are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 493, which makes it the 521st most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,200 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 3,260 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 13,621 for Naila 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 Isha test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Naila's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Isha climbed just as high around 2002, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Isha's path sketches the road Naila is walking now.
Naila 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 Naila is headed
Naila 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.
Naila beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Naila in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The attainer meaning is transparent, undisputed and unusually purposeful.
- It is used across Arabic and South Asian naming without change.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk in English.
- Nailah with the h is the fuller transliteration.
- Nayla and Layla are close enough in sound to cause confusion.
- The Arabic glottal stop is lost entirely in English.
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What they receive
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Naila
Feminine · #1721 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nailas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Naila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Naila?
- Naila is one of 4 recorded spellings. Nayla is the more common one — 225 births in 2025 against 118 for Naila.
- How popular is the name Naila in 2025?
- Naila ranks #1721 among US girl names in 2025, with 118 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Naila?
- About 1 in every 13,621 US girls born in 2025 was named Naila — 118 in all.
- Will my child share the name Naila with classmates?
- Naila will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Naila
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Adalia#1721 · Nicolette#1721 · Zyra#1721 · Kristina#1721 · India#1721 · Kaliah#1721 · Rayah#1721 · Laikyn#1721
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Naila? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Naila and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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