Leyla
The name carries the meaning "night" and reaches Poland by way of Turkish. Still rare enough that most Poles have never met one, but it's climbing: more girls were given it last year than in any year before.
Leyla Pronunciation
Leyla is pronounced le-IH-lah (/lɛˈɨla/).
What Leyla means
Where Leyla comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Leyla means night. The word behind it, noc in Polish, came from far outside the Slavic world, from the languages of the Near East, where the name has long belonged to women. Its origin is filed simply as other, since it did not grow from Polish or any Slavic neighbour.
The oldest famous Leyla lives only on the page. Around 1188 the Persian poet Nizami retold an older Arabic love story, Layla and Majnun, in which a poet loses his wits over a woman he cannot marry and can only name. Turkish families took up both the tale and the name, and Leyla became ordinary there in the best sense.
In a Polish school the name now shows up on the class register beside Zuzanna and Maja, its spelling foreign, its meaning plain. Say Leyla to a child and you have handed her the night: noc, short and dark.
How many people are named Leyla
1 in 49766 women in Poland is named Leyla. 453 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1390 among female names.
Leyla's popularity over time
29 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #447 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2007.
Where Leyla is most popular
Leyla is most popular in Masovian, 78% above the national average (26 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Silesian (+60%) and Lower Silesian (+55%). It is least common in Łódź and Lublin, 62% and 53% below average respectively.
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Masovian26 girls born+78%
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Silesian15 girls born+60%
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Lower Silesian10 girls born+55%
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Pomeranian9 girls born+48%
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West Pomeranian4 girls born+15%
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Opole2 girls born+5%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian4 girls born−11%
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Greater Poland7 girls born−21%
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Warmian-Masurian2 girls born−32%
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Lesser Poland6 girls born−36%
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Lublin2 girls born−53%
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Łódź2 girls born−62%
Leyla as a middle name
Leyla is a first name for 453 women in Poland and a middle name for another 64, an 88/12 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 856th, between June (64) and Magdalene (64).
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#854 Heronima64
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#855 June64
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#856 Leyla64
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#857 Magdalene64
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#858 Xymena64