Lejla
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "night" or "night beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 843 living Americans carry the first name Lejla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lejla today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lejla births was 2007 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lejla. 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.
People living today
843
~ 1 in 406,589 Americans
Peak year
2007
47 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,516
Tracked since 1995
Popularity
Lejla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lejla from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 401 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lejla 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 Lejla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lejlas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Illinois, New York, Missouri recorded the most babies named Lejla, while Georgia, Connecticut, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lejla
The name Lejla is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "layl," which means "night" or "dark." It is believed to have originated in the Middle East during the medieval period, where it was likely used to describe someone who was born at night or had a dark complexion.
Lejla is a variant spelling of the more common Arabic name Layla, which has been popularized in various cultures and literary works throughout history. One of the earliest references to the name can be found in the 7th-century Arabic love story "Layla and Majnun," which tells the tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers.
In the 12th century, the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi wrote an epic poem titled "Khosrow and Shirin," which featured a character named Lejla. This work is considered one of the masterpieces of Persian literature and has contributed to the name's enduring popularity in the region.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Lejla was Lejla Ibrahimpašić (1925-2019), a Bosnian writer, and journalist who played a significant role in the cultural and literary scene of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 20th century.
Another notable figure was Lejla Abbasová (1963-2008), a Czechoslovak-born singer and actress of Romani descent, who achieved widespread popularity in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with her unique blend of traditional Romani music and pop.
In the realm of sports, Lejla Panlić (born 1986) is a Bosnian professional basketball player who has represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in international competitions and played for various teams in Europe and Turkey.
Lejla Memić (born 1987) is a Bosnian filmmaker and screenwriter whose debut feature film, "Inferno," received critical acclaim and won several awards at international film festivals.
Lejla Selendić (born 1987) is a Bosnian author and journalist known for her novels and short stories that explore themes of identity, displacement, and the complexities of modern life in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina.
People
Lejla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lejla 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
Lejla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lejla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 843 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lejla 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 406,589 US residents.
Is Lejla a common name?
We classify Lejla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 854 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lejla most popular?
The single biggest year for Lejla was 2007, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lejla is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lejla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lejla 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.
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.