Leyli
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "night beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 141 living Americans carry the first name Leyli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leyli today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leyli births was 2012 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leyli. 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 Leyli with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
141
~ 1 in 2,430,882 Americans
Peak year
2012
11 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,271
Tracked since 2004
Census
Leyli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 256 people with the first name Leyli, which placed it at #32,700 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#32,700
National first-name rank
People counted
256
256 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
46.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leyli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leyli is Hispanic at 46.5%. The next largest groups are White (38.7%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Leyli described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Leyli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino46.5% · 119
- White38.7% · 99
- Two or more races8.6% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 13
- Black or African American1.2% · 3
Popularity
Leyli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leyli 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 66 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leyli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leyli 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 Leyli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leyli
The name Leyli has its origins in the Persian language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Persian word "leyl," which means "night" or "darkness." This name likely originated in the region of modern-day Iran and neighboring areas where Persian was the predominant language.
In Persian literature and poetry, the word "leyl" is often used metaphorically to represent beauty, mystery, and the divine. The name Leyli may have been given to children with the hope that they would possess these qualities or as a reflection of the beauty and mystique associated with the night.
One of the earliest and most famous references to the name Leyli comes from the 12th-century Persian love story, "Layla and Majnun," written by the poet Nizami Ganjavi. In this tragic romance, Leyli is the name of the beautiful and virtuous woman that Qays, also known as Majnun, falls hopelessly in love with. This story became a significant part of Persian culture and literature, cementing the name Leyli in the region's collective consciousness.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Leyli. One of the earliest recorded examples is Leyli Khatun (1188-1246), a Seljuk princess and the wife of the Sultan of Rum, Kaykhusraw I. She was renowned for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in the court.
Another prominent figure was Leyli Rabia Efendi (1704-1773), an Ottoman calligrapher and poet. She was highly skilled in the art of calligraphy and is considered one of the most accomplished female calligraphers in Ottoman history.
In more recent times, Leyli Gökçen (1913-1992) was a renowned Turkish aviator and the first female combat pilot in the world. She played a crucial role in the Turkish Air Force and was a pioneer for women in aviation.
Leyli Anvar (1935-2005) was an Iranian actress and playwright who made significant contributions to the Iranian theater scene. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern Iranian theater.
Leyli Mushtaq (1952-present) is a renowned Afghan singer and musician who has been celebrated for her contributions to Afghan music and for preserving traditional Afghan folk songs.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Leyli, each contributing to their respective fields and cultures in significant ways.
People
Leyli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leyli 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
Leyli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leyli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leyli 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 2,430,882 US residents.
Is Leyli a common name?
We classify Leyli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leyli most popular?
The single biggest year for Leyli was 2012, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leyli is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leyli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 256 people with the name Leyli, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,700 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Leyli in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Leyli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leyli leans strongly female. 256 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Leyli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leyli is Hispanic at 46.5%. The next largest groups are White (38.7%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Leyli most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Leyli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.5% (119 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Leyli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leyli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leyli 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 Leyli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leyli 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 Leyli 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.
How many people are called Leyli?
You can see how many people have the name Leyli on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.