Leylah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "night" or "born at night".
Name Census estimates that about 948 living Americans carry the first name Leylah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leylah today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leylah births was 2023 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leylah. 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
948
~ 1 in 361,555 Americans
Peak year
2023
63 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,602
Tracked since 2000
Popularity
Leylah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leylah 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 501 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leylah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leylah 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 Leylah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leylahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Leylah, while Washington, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 76 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leylah
The name Leylah is derived from the Arabic language and has its origins in the Middle East and Islamic culture. It is a feminine name that is a variation of the more common Arabic name Layla, which means "night" or "born at night."
The name Leylah first appeared in ancient Arabic literature and poetry, where it was often used as a symbolic representation of beauty and love. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the famous Arabic love story "Layla and Majnun," which dates back to the 7th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Leylah can be traced back to the 9th century, when it was given to a princess in the Abbasid Caliphate. Throughout the centuries, the name has been associated with various prominent figures in Islamic history and literature.
One notable figure with the name Leylah was Leylah al-Akhyaliya, a 9th-century Arab poetess and singer from Baghdad. She was renowned for her talent and her contributions to the development of Arabic poetry and music.
Another famous Leylah was Leylah Khanum, an 18th-century Persian princess and the daughter of Nader Shah, one of the most powerful rulers of the Afsharid dynasty. She was known for her beauty, intelligence, and influence in the Persian court.
In the 19th century, Leylah Rabia Khanum was a prominent Ottoman Turkish painter and calligrapher. She was one of the first women to receive formal training in the arts in the Ottoman Empire and is recognized for her contributions to the artistic and cultural heritage of the region.
Leylah Masserah, born in 1935, was a renowned Palestinian author and activist. She was known for her powerful writings on the Palestinian struggle for independence and her advocacy for women's rights and social justice.
In more recent times, Leylah Fowler, born in 1942, is an American author and scholar who has written extensively on Middle Eastern literature and culture. Her works have helped to promote a greater understanding of the rich literary traditions of the Arab world.
People
Leylah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leylah 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
Leylah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leylah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 948 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leylah 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 361,555 US residents.
Is Leylah a common name?
We classify Leylah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 956 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leylah most popular?
The single biggest year for Leylah was 2023, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leylah is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Leylah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leylah 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.