Laelah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "night wanderer" or "night traveler".
Name Census estimates that about 470 living Americans carry the first name Laelah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Laelah today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Laelah births was 2017 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Laelah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Laelah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
470
~ 1 in 729,265 Americans
Peak year
2017
41 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,736
Tracked since 2001
Popularity
Laelah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Laelah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 297 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Laelah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Laelah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Laelahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Laelah
The name Laelah is a relatively rare name with obscure origins. It is believed to have roots in ancient Aramaic, a language that was once widely spoken in the Middle East. The name may be derived from the Aramaic word "lala," which means "night" or "darkness." Alternatively, it could be related to the Hebrew name "Leah," which means "weary" or "tired."
There are no definitive historical references or mentions of the name Laelah in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, some scholars suggest that it may have been used as a variant spelling of the name Leah in certain regions of the ancient Middle East.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Laelah are relatively modern, dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Laelah Bashir (1885-1964), a Syrian-born writer and activist who advocated for women's rights in the Middle East.
Another notable figure named Laelah was Laelah Haji (1903-1988), an Iraqi-Kurdish politician and women's rights activist. She was one of the first women to be elected to the Iraqi Parliament in the 1940s.
In the realm of literature, Laelah Taib (1914-2002) was a prominent Sudanese novelist and poet. Her works explored themes of cultural identity, gender roles, and social issues in Sudan.
The name Laelah also has some connections to the arts. Laelah Bashir (1928-2017) was an Egyptian actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the mid-20th century.
Lastly, Laelah Al-Khafaji (1938-2019) was an Iraqi mathematician and academic. She made significant contributions to the field of algebraic topology and was a pioneering figure in promoting women's education and scientific research in Iraq.
While the name Laelah remains relatively uncommon, these historical figures have helped to preserve its legacy and cultural significance over the years.
People
Laelah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Laelah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Laelah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Laelah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 470 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Laelah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 729,265 US residents.
Is Laelah a common name?
We classify Laelah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 474 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Laelah most popular?
The single biggest year for Laelah was 2017, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Laelah is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Laelah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Laelah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Laelah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Laelah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Laelah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Laelah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Laelah?
See how many Americans are named Laelah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.