Layla
A Hebrew name that means "night". Still rare enough that most Poles have never met one, but it's climbing: more girls got it last year than in the years before, all of them girls.
Layla Pronunciation
Layla is pronounced lah-IH-lah (/laˈɨla/).
What Layla means
Where Layla comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Layla begins in a Semitic word for night. Hebrew laylah names the dark hours, and the same root feeds Arabic layl. So the meaning holds steady across languages: night, and in Polish noc.
The name became famous through a story. In the tale of Layla and Majnun, retold by the Persian poet Nizami in the twelfth century, Layla is the beloved whose name a young man repeats until people call him majnun, the madman. Arabic culture kept the name close after that, so a Hebrew root now wears an Arabic association.
On a Polish class register, Layla stands out. It has no home-grown diminutive and no masculine twin. A teacher reading down the list meets a short, level name that means night.
How many people are named Layla
1 in 37201 women in Poland is named Layla. 606 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1214 among female names.
Layla's popularity over time
34 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #423 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2005.
Where parents choose Layla
Layla is most popular in Lubusz, 150% above the national average (7 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Silesian (+71%) and Lower Silesian (+58%). It is least common in Subcarpathian and Greater Poland, 71% and 67% below average respectively.
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Lubusz
+150%1 in 7,094 babies
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Silesian
+71%1 in 10,345 babies
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Lower Silesian
+58%1 in 11,224 babies
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Subcarpathian
−71%1 in 60,283 babies
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Greater Poland
−67%1 in 53,811 babies
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Podlaskie
−19%1 in 21,929 babies
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Lubusz+150% 7 born1 in 7,094 babies+150%
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Silesian+71% 22 born1 in 10,345 babies+71%
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Lower Silesian+58% 14 born1 in 11,224 babies+58%
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Łódź+40% 10 born1 in 12,672 babies+40%
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Lublin+38% 8 born1 in 12,834 babies+38%
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Holy Cross+28% 4 born1 in 13,858 babies+28%
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Masovian+10% 22 born1 in 16,103 babies+10%
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Pomeranian+8% 9 born1 in 16,369 babies+8%
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West Pomeranian+5% 5 born1 in 16,885 babies+5%
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Lesser Poland−6% 12 born1 in 18,910 babies−6%
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Podlaskie−19% 3 born1 in 21,929 babies−19%
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Greater Poland−67% 4 born1 in 53,811 babies−67%
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Subcarpathian−71% 2 born1 in 60,283 babies−71%
Layla as a middle name
Layla is a first name for 606 women in Poland and a middle name for another 101, an 86/14 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 665th, between Jessika (101) and Mariam (100).
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#663 Ingrida101
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#664 Jessika101
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#665 Layla101
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#666 Mariam100
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#667 Paloma100