Shaila
Feminine · “of the mountain”
Shaila has two genuine and unrelated homes. In Sanskrit it means of the mountain, and it is an epithet of the goddess who is the mountain's daughter. In English it is a respelling of Sheila, which is Irish and comes from Cecilia. Both are real, and the spelling gives no clue.
How old is the name Shaila?
Shaila first appears in US birth records in 1960 — 65 years ago. The typical Shaila alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 3,200 people named Shaila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shaila most popular?
Shaila peaked in 2010, reaching #1035 nationally. Today it ranks #5099, 4,064 places below that high. See the whole 2010 chart.
Where it comes from
From shila to Shaila
The story of Shaila
Parvati is the mountain's daughter in Hindu tradition, and a set of names follows from that: Parvati, Shaila, Girija, Adrija, all of them saying the same thing in different words. The Sanskrit name is given across northern and western India. Separately, Sheila became enormously common in Ireland, Britain and Australia in the twentieth century, and Latin American and American families respelled it in several ways, Shaila among them. Both roads reach American records.
Meaningscholars disagree
of the mountain, in Sanskrit; or through Cecilia
Sanskrit shaila, of the mountain or made of rock, from shila, a rock, is used as a name of Parvati, who is the daughter of the Himalaya. Separately, Sheila comes from Irish Sile, the Irish form of Cecilia, from the Roman family name Caecilius. The two are entirely unconnected.
How the name formed
- shila
- Shaila
Related forms: शैला · Síle · Sheila
Pronouncing Shaila
SHY-lah
Two syllables, stress in front. Families on the Sheila road often say SHAY-lah instead, and both are current.
Nicknames for Shaila
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
- 1960
- Most girls named
- 2010241 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1035reached in 2010
- Change vs 2024
- +19.0%25 in 2025, from 21
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.
Shaila in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- शैला in Sanskrit — transliteration
- Síle in Irish — related form
- Sheila in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Shailas among us
people named Shaila are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 64,291 born in 2025 was named Shaila
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Shaila
- #5099
- Shaila on the 2025 chart
- #822
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Shaila went to 25 girls in 2025, but Shayla is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 138, which makes it the 822nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,277 places above the chart.
- Shayla113
- Shaila25
About 1 girl in 11,647 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 64,291 for Shaila 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 Gaynelle test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Shaila's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Gaynelle climbed just as high around 1937, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Gaynelle's path sketches the road Shaila is walking now.
Shaila 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 Shaila is headed
Shaila is easing off slowly — about 24% 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.
Shaila beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Shaila in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has two documented histories, one Sanskrit and one Irish, and both are worth having.
- Two syllables and six letters make it easy to write and to say.
- Shay works as a short form and is instantly familiar in English.
- Two pronunciations circulate, one for each of its histories, and the spelling settles neither.
- Shaila, Sheila and Shayla are all in use and get written for one another.
- Its meaning depends entirely on which tradition a family is claiming.
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What they receive
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Shaila
Feminine · #5099 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Shailas 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 Shaila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Shaila?
- Shaila is one of 2 recorded spellings. Shayla is the more common one — 113 births in 2025 against 25 for Shaila.
- How popular is the name Shaila in 2025?
- Shaila ranks #5099 among US girl names in 2025, with 25 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Shaila?
- About 1 in every 64,291 US girls born in 2025 was named Shaila — 25 in all.
- Will my child share the name Shaila with classmates?
- Shaila will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Shaila
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Janette#5099 · Loraine#5099 · Delfina#5099 · Hali#5099 · Mecca#5099 · Zoi#5099 · Afia#5099 · Emelie#5099
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shaila? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Shaila and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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