Zayla
Feminine
Zayla is a young name in the American record — it arrived within living memory and has held its place quietly ever since, without ever crowding a classroom. It sits in the familiar company of Kayla and Layla, so it lands on the ear already understood, while the opening Z gives it an edge those two don't have. Almost everyone who carries it is still a child.
How old is the name Zayla?
Zayla first appears in US birth records in 1994 — 31 years ago. The typical Zayla is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 3,900 people named Zayla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zayla most popular?
Zayla peaked in 2023, reaching #800 nationally. Today it ranks #1008, 208 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Zayla
Zayla's story starts in American maternity wards rather than in any old manuscript, and that is a beginning like any other. It belongs to a generation of names assembled by ear: take the soft two-beat close that Kayla, Layla and Ayla all share, then reach for the far end of the alphabet for the opening. The result is a name that strangers can read aloud on the first try but have almost certainly never met. It also happens to echo Zeila, sometimes written Zaila, an ancient port on the Gulf of Aden — not an ancestor, just a stranger with the same silhouette, which is the kind of coincidence a short name collects.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No established meaning. What is documented is where it sits: Zayla appears in US birth records only in recent decades, alongside a whole family of names built on the -ayla ending — Kayla, Layla, Mikayla — and it follows their shape rather than descending from a known word. Layla comes from Arabic for night, but that is Layla's history, not Zayla's, and no one has traced a line between them.
Pronouncing Zayla
ZAY-lə
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the vowel of day. It rhymes with Kayla, and that likeness cuts both ways: it is easy to say on sight, and easy to mishear as Kayla or Layla in a noisy room.
Nicknames for Zayla
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
- 1994
- Most girls named
- 2023351 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #800reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −5.3%248 in 2025, from 262
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.
Zayla in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Zaylas among us
people named Zayla are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 6,481 born in 2025 was named Zayla
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Zayla
- #1008
- Zayla on the 2025 chart
- #593
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Zayla went to 248 girls in 2025, but Zaila, Zaylah and Zailah and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 396, which makes it the 593rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 415 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 4,059 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 6,481 for Zayla 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 Sarahi test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zayla's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sarahi climbed just as high around 2005, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sarahi's path sketches the road Zayla is walking now.
Zayla 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 Zayla is headed
Zayla 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.
Zayla beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zayla in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Readable at first glance for English speakers, because the -ayla pattern is already everywhere in Kayla, Layla and Mikayla.
- Short, two syllables, with one clear stress — it survives being shouted across a playground.
- Comes with a ready short form in Zay, which already works as a standalone name.
- Common enough to be recognized, uncommon enough that a Zayla will most likely be the only one in her school.
- The spelling will need repeating. Zaila, Zeila, Zaylah and Zayla all exist, and none of them is the obvious default, so expect a lifetime of gentle corrections.
- There is no meaning to offer when someone asks. If you want a name with a documented story behind it, this is not that name — its history is recent and American.
- Nearly everyone carrying it is a child right now, so it reads as distinctly of this era. That fades as her generation grows up, but it will always date her roughly.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Zayla to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Zayla
Feminine · #1008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zaylas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,900 people named Zayla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Zayla?
- Zayla is the most-used spelling in US records — 248 of the 396 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Zaila, Zaylah, Zailah and Zaiyla.
- How popular is the name Zayla in 2025?
- Zayla ranks #1008 among US girl names in 2025, with 248 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zayla?
- About 1 in every 6,481 US girls born in 2025 was named Zayla — 248 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zayla with classmates?
- Zayla will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zayla
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Baylee#1008 · Carly#1008 · Joelle#1008 · Malka#1008 · Adara#1004 · Safa#1004 · Mattie#1004 · Novah#1004
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zayla? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zayla and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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