Lylah
A feminine name derived from Arabic meaning "night" or "night beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 7,934 living Americans carry the first name Lylah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lylah today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lylah births was 2024 (555 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lylah. 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.
Key insights
- • Lylah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
7.9K
~ 1 in 43,201 Americans
Peak year
2024
555 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#544
Tracked since 1916
Popularity
Lylah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lylah from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,424 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Lylah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lylah 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 Lylah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lylahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Lylah, while Alaska, Hawaii, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 168 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lylah
The name Lylah is a variant spelling of the Arabic name Layla, which means "night" or "born at night." It is derived from the Arabic word "lail," meaning "night." The name has its roots in ancient Arabic culture and can be traced back to pre-Islamic Arabia.
One of the earliest known references to the name Layla comes from the 7th-century Arabic love story "Layla and Majnun," which is considered one of the greatest romantic tragedies in Arabic literature. In this story, Layla is the name of the beautiful young woman who is the object of Majnun's unrequited love.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women named Lylah or Layla. One of the earliest recorded examples is Laylah al-Akhyaliyah, a 7th-century Arab poet and singer who was renowned for her skill in composing poems and songs.
In the 12th century, Laylah al-Amiriyah was a prominent Arabic scholar and writer who lived in Egypt. She is known for her contributions to the fields of literature and Islamic studies.
During the Ottoman Empire, Laylah Khanim was a 16th-century Ottoman princess and the daughter of Sultan Selim II. She is remembered for her patronage of the arts and her support for the construction of mosques and other buildings in Istanbul.
In more recent times, Layla Elvi (1926-2008) was a famous Turkish singer and actress who was known for her interpretations of traditional Turkish folk songs. She was widely regarded as one of the most influential artists in Turkish music history.
Finally, Layla Zoe (born 1975) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician who has released several albums and has gained popularity for her blend of folk, pop, and rock music styles.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Lylah or its variant spellings, highlighting the rich cultural heritage and significance of this name across various regions and time periods.
People
Lylah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lylah 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
Lylah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lylah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,934 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lylah 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 43,201 US residents.
Is Lylah a common name?
We classify Lylah as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,037 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lylah most popular?
The single biggest year for Lylah was 2024, when 555 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lylah is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lylah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lylah 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.