Leila (Arabic: لَيْلَى, Hebrew: לילה, Syriac: ܠܹܠܝܵܐ), also spelt Layla, is a feminine given name of Arabic origin. It is popular in the Middle East, including Arabic-speaking countries, Iran, Turkey, and Palestine, as well as the Nordic countries, India and Anglosphere. In the Latin alphabet, the name is commonly spelled in multiple ways, including Leila, Layla, Laylah, Laila, Leyla, and Leylah.
Laila comes from the Arabic word layl (لَيْل), which means "night", or "dark".
The story of Qays and Layla or Layla and Majnun is based on the romantic poems of Qais Ibn Al-Mulawwah (Arabic: قيس بن الملوح) in 7th century Arabia, who was nicknamed Majnoon Layla (مجنون ليلى), Arabic for "madly in love with Layla", referring to his cousin Layla Al-Amiriah (ليلى العامرية). His poems are considered the paragon of unrequited chaste love. They later became a popular romance in medieval Iran, and use of the name spread accordingly. The name gained popularity further afield in the Persianate world such as Iran and Pakistan also amongst Turkic peoples and in the Balkans and India.
The Indian name is Leela or Lila, and is of Sanskrit origin and related to Hindu religion and philosophy. The name in Sanskrit translates to "play" or "divine play". It can also mean "act of God". Leela is also associated with the Hindu goddess Durga. The concept of "Leela" is rooted in Hindu philosophy and cosmology. The most famous example is "Ramleela", related to Lord Ram and "Rasleela", related to Lord Krishna. Layla or Leila, although similar sounding to Leela, have no connection to the name and its origin. Leela/Lila is of Sanskrit origin, and Leila is of Arabic origin. The word "Leela" and "Leila" have different origins, meanings and cultural significance, though they are phonetically similar.
In the Nordic countries Laila or Lajla is derived from the Sami name Láilá, the Sami variant of Helga which means "holy".
Contents
People with this name
Laila
DJ Laila (born 1978), Filipino radio and television presenter
Laila Akhmetova (born 1954), Kazakh doctor of historical sciences
Laila Ali (born 1977), boxer and daughter of Muhammad Ali
Laila Ali Abdulla (born 1965), First Lady of the Maldives
Laila Bagge (born 1972), Swedish manager and songwriter
Laila Bērziņa (born 1965), Latvian politician
Laila Bjurling (born 1947), Swedish politician
Laila Bugaighis, Libyan physician and human rights activist
Laila Edwards (born 2004), American ice hockey player
Laila El Khalifi (better known as Leila K) (born 1971), Swedish singer and rapper
Laila Ezzat (born 1935), Egyptian painter
Laila Freivalds (born 1942), Swedish Social-Democrat
Laila Harré (born 1966), New Zealand politician
Laila Hirvisaari (1938–2021), Finnish author and writer
Laila Kinnunen (1939–2000), Finnish singer
Laila Lalami (born 1968), Moroccan-American novelist and essayist
Laila Mehdin (born 1980), Indian actress
Layla
DJ Layla, a Romanian music project
Layla al-Akhyaliyya, 8th century AD Umayyad Arab poet
Layla Andrews (born 1997), English painter
Layla Balabakki (1934–2023), Lebanese writer and activist
Layla El (born 1977), British wrestler, dancer, model, actress, and entrepreneur
Layla Handbury (born 1982), Australian MC
Layla Iskandar (born 2002), Lebanese footballer
Layla Kayleigh (born 1986), G4 host on the US television program, Attack of the Show!
Layla Kaylif (born 1971), British Emirati singer
Layla McCarter (born 1979), American boxer
Layla Moran (born 1982), British Liberal Democrat politician
Layla Palmer, singer and keyboardist for the band Amity Lane
Layla Taj, American-Egyptian dancer
MC Layla (born 1982), Australian rapper
Sultana Yesmin Layla (born 1993), Bangladeshi singer
Laylah
Laylah Ali (born 1968), American visual artist
Laylah Ali Othman (born 1986), Nigerian businesswoman
Leila
Leila Abashidze (1929–2018), Georgian actress
Leila Aboulela (born 1964), Sudanese writer
Leila Ahmed (born 1940), Egyptian-American professor
Leila Al Solh (born 1946), Lebanese public figure
Leila Anderson (born 1984), South African performance artist
Leila Arab (born 1971), London-based musician of Persian descent
Leila Barros (born 1971), Brazilian volleyball player
Leila Beaudoin (born 1996), Canadian boxer
Leila Bela (born 1970), Iranian-American musician, actress, and writer
Leïla Ben Ali (born 1956), Tunisian political figure
Leila Ben-Gacem (born 1969), Tunisian social entrepreneur
Leïla Chaibi (born 1982), French politician
Leila de Lima (born 1959), Filipino human rights activist
Leila Denmark (1898–2012), American pediatrician
Leila Ernst (1920–1970), American actress
Leila Esfandyari (1971–2011), Iranian mountain climber
Leila Farzad (born 1981), British actress
Leila Forouhar (born 1959), Iranian singer and actress
Leilah
Leïla Sy (born 1977), French film director
Leilah Assunção (born 1943), Brazilian dramatist, actress, and writer
Leilah Mahi (1890–1932), French writer
Leilah Nadir, Canadian writer
Leilah Weinraub (born 1979), American filmmaker and conceptual artist
Lejla
Lejla Agolli (born 1950), Albanian composer
Lejla Basic (born 1994), Swedish footballer
Lejla Hot (born 1986), Serbian pop singer, musician, and songwriter
Lejla Kalamujić (born 1980), queer writer from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Lejla Tanović (born 1994), Bosnian mountain bike racer
Lelia
Lelia N. Morris (1862–1929), American hymnwriter
Leyla
Leyla Achba (1898–1931), princess at the Ottoman Empire court
Leyla Bağcı (born 1990), Turkish-Dutch footballer
Leyla Chihuán (born 1975), Peruvian volleyball player
Leyla Gencer (1928–2008), Turkish soprano opera singer
Leyla Güngör (born 1993), Turkish-Swedish footballer
Leyla Kazim (born 1985), British food and travel writer and media personality
Leyla Mamedbekova (1921–2006), Azerbaijani pathologist
Leyla Mammadbeyova (1909–1989), the first female Azerbaijani aviator
Leyla Milani (born 1982), Canadian model of Iranian descent
Leyla Neyzi (born 1961), Turkish academic
Leyla Öztürk (born 1991), Turkish hockey player
Leyla Pınar, Turkish harpsichordist and musicologist
Leyla Qasim (1952–1974), Kurdish activist in Iraq
Leyla Saz (1850–1936), composer, poet, and writer of Cretan Turkish descent
Leyla Soleymani, Canadian scientist
Leyla Tanlar (born 1997), Turkish actress
Leyla Tuğutlu (born 1989), Turkish beauty queen
Leylah
Leylah Alliët (born 1991), Belgian beauty pageant titleholder
Leylah Fernandez (born 2002), Canadian tennis player
Film, music, and literature
Laila, album by Shahin Badar
Laila, Norwegian silent film starring Mona Mårtenson
Laila, song by Kourosh Yaghmaei
Layla, song by Derek and the Dominos
Leila, essay by Margaret Fuller
Leila, song by Indochine in the album L'aventurier
Leila, song by Legião Urbana
Leila, song by Miami Horror in the EP The Shapes
Leila, song by Milton Nascimento
Lejla, song by Hari Mata Hari
Fictional and mythological characters
Laila from Laila in Haifa
Laila Lewin in the book series The Wheel of Time
Laila, character portrayed by Sunny Leone in item song "Laila Main Laila" from Raees
Lailah, an angel of the night in Jewish mythology
Layla El-Faouly / Scarlet Scarab in the Marvel Cinematic Universe TV show Moon Knight
Layla Hamilton in the Japanese manga series Kaleido Star
Layla Hassan, character in the Assassin's Creed video game series
Layla Heartfilia in the Japanese manga series Fairy Tail
Layla in the 1st Story Maxi CD 「Seisen no Iberia / 聖戦のイベリア」 of Sound Horizon
Layla in the animated series Winx Club
Layla in the classic Arabic love story Layla and Majnun
Layla in the Japanese manga Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji, first introduced in chapter 172
Layla M. Luzhkova in the Japanese anime series Sakura Wars the Animation
Layla Miller in the Marvel universe
Layla Prismriver, a character briefly mentioned in the Japanese doujin game series (shoot 'em up) Touhou Project
Layla Serizawa in the Japanese manga series NANA