Nyla
Feminine
Nyla is short, even and easy to say aloud — two syllables that land the same way in almost every accent. It sits at the meeting point of two older names: the Arabic Nāʾila, carried for centuries across the Arabic-speaking world, and the Sanskrit-derived Nila of South Asia. In American records it has been quietly present for over a century before its recent rise.
How old is the name Nyla?
Nyla first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Nyla is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 26,500 people named Nyla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nyla most popular?
Nyla peaked in 2021, reaching #227 nationally. Today it ranks #236, 9 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Where it comes from
From Nāʾila to Nyla
The story of Nyla
Nāʾila is a classical Arabic name of long standing, and it traveled with Arabic-speaking and Muslim communities into English-speaking countries, where it was written many ways — Naila, Nailah, Nyla. Separately, nīla, the Sanskrit word for dark blue, gave South Asia the name Nila or Neela, which also reached English spelling as Nyla. The Y spelling is the one American records favor, and it fits neatly beside a whole family of names built on the same sound. Its rise in the United States is recent and gradual rather than sudden, which is why most people carrying it now are young.
Meaningscholars disagree
"one who attains" (Arabic) or "dark blue" (Sanskrit), depending on which root you follow
Two serious readings sit behind the same spelling. Nyla is a common English respelling of the Arabic Nāʾila (نائلة), from a root meaning to attain or obtain — so "achiever, one who wins what she seeks." It is also written for Nila or Neela, from Sanskrit nīla, "dark blue, indigo" — the same word behind the indigo plant. A third path is simply English sound-building, on the pattern of Kyla, Lyla and Layla, where no meaning is intended at all. Families choose which line they mean; the spelling does not decide it.
How the name formed
- Nāʾila
- Naila
- Nyla
Related forms: Nāʾila / نائلة · Nailah · Naila · Neela / नीला · Nila · Naile
Pronouncing Nyla
NY-lah
First syllable rhymes with "my." Families using the Arabic Nāʾila may say nah-EE-lah, and those using the South Asian Nila or Neela say NEE-lah — worth deciding early, since the spelling supports all three.
Nicknames for Nyla
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
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 20211,323 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #227reached in 2021
- Change vs 2023
- +5.5%1,315 in 2025, from 1,246
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.
Nyla in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nāʾila / نائلة in Arabic — transliteration
- Nailah in English — spelling variant
- Naila in Urdu — same name
- Neela / नीला in Hindi — related form
- Nila in Bengali — related form
- Naile in Turkish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Nylas among us
people named Nyla are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,222 born in 2025 was named Nyla
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Nyla
- #236
- Nyla on the 2025 chart
- #147
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Nyla went to 1,315 girls in 2025, but Nylah, Nila and Nilah and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 7 spellings went to 2,115, which makes it the 147th most-given girls’ name of the year — 89 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 760 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 1,222 for Nyla 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 Fatima test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nyla's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Fatima climbed just as high around 2001, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Fatima's path sketches the road Nyla is walking now.
Nyla 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 Nyla is headed
Nyla should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Nyla beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nyla in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables, phonetic in English: most people read NY-lah correctly on first sight without being told.
- Sits in a well-known sound family alongside Lyla, Kyla and Layla, so the shape is already familiar to American ears.
- Has real standing in Arabic and South Asian naming traditions as well as English, which travels well across families.
- Present in US records for more than a century, so it is neither newly coined nor tied to a single moment.
- The spelling competes with Nyla, Nila, Naila and Nailah, all pronounced somewhat differently. Expect to spell it and occasionally to correct the vowel — a short, repeatable correction, but a lifelong one.
- Because the sound-alikes are everywhere — Lyla, Layla, Kyla, Mila — she may be called by a neighboring name now and then, particularly in a classroom or on a roll call.
- The meaning depends on which root a family claims. That is worth settling for yourselves, since relatives may assume a different one than you intended.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Nyla to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Nyla
Feminine · #236 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nylas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 26,500 people named Nyla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Nyla?
- Nyla is the most-used spelling in US records — 1,315 of the 2,115 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Nylah, Nila, Nilah, Niylah and Niyla.
- How popular is the name Nyla in 2025?
- Nyla ranks #236 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,315 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nyla?
- About 1 in every 1,222 US girls born in 2025 was named Nyla — 1,315 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nyla with classmates?
- Nyla will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nyla
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Alexandra#237 · Cataleya#237 · Andrea#235 · Lucille#237 · Arianna#234 · Maisie#233 · Palmer#232 · Camille#240
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nyla? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nyla and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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