Isla

This is my favorite name! It's been very special to me for many years now.
I mentioned it to my sister and she thought I said Iowa...and my husband thought it was pronounced ees-la.
Also I want to use the name Elsie for one of our daughters and I'm afraid Isla and Elsie are just too similar.
Hopefully Meghan Markle doesn't use this name so it doesn't become terribly popular....though I noticed it's already number one on nameberry!

I don't know what you eventually went with, but in my view great love for a name and using it to honor someone both outweigh popularity concerns. And pronunciation concerns are decreasing as the name gets more popular.

Yes, but it's Jesus Christ not Joshua Christ, so as an English speaking person I find it WEIRD to name your kid Jesus which is apparently after Jesus Christ!

Both Jesus and Joshua are variations of Yeshua, the original Hebrew name

Maybe because Joshua isn't the Messiah?

As an English-speaker why would someone name their child Jesus?

A beautiful name. I'm going to use it as a middle name for my daughter; Ashton Isla <3

I don't know... why would you name your child Joshua, then? lol

I don't know... why would you name your child Jesus?!

I think pronunciation problems will become less and less over time as it is becoming more well known and should continue to do so.

I prefer it pronounced that way too. I suppose that when looking at it from a Spanish lanugagge, perspective, that pronunciation is more intuitive.

My name is Isla :) I’m 15 and from England, I only know of one other Isla who’s a few years younger. People do struggle with the pronunciation of my name, but it’s actually shocking me with how many people can say it right. None of my new teachers have mispronounced it!!! I love my name, it’s sentimental as I am half Scottish myself, and if people don’t understand how say it, tell your daughter to say: “it’s just like island, without the nd”

Some people call me Islam, because it’s only a letter difference, and some people mispronounce it on purpose, but it doesn’t happen too often. It’s just a funny nickname, you get those with every name, especially when you’re in school!

Eye-lah is the Scottish pronunciation, and one of the origins of this name is Scottish. Ees-lah is the Spanish pronunciation, and Spanish is the other origin of the name.

I like it pronounced Izla, but still spelled Isla. Isla Rose is a cute combo:)

Um this is a Spanish word!!! Why is the pronunciation listed as EYE LA? It's EES-LA.

Emily means "rival".

What's wrong with Emily :P

Me too!!

I prefer the Spanish pronunciation EES-lah, though it is simply the word for island.

this name is so pretty!! I know that in other places it is very common but where I live it is unheard of.

I really like this name, but remained on the fence until I saw your comment. It should have been obvious to me that it's a word scramble of "Lisa". Lisa is my moms name and this would be a wonderful way to honor her. Thank you.

Considering it. Not to happy with the popularity over recent years, however my wife's name is LISA. ISLA would use all the same letters. On top of this, she was definitely conceived on an Island in Croatia and will be born on an Island in Malta (Which has a beautiful little city 'Isla' not far from the hospital). Gives a little more depth to the meaning. My wife's concern is with the pronunciation mistakes.

I just think of scotch

I named my daughter Isla and people in the USA and Spanish speakers do often mispronounce it. It doesn't bother us though. For those asking why you'd name your child something that means island, in English that name is derived from the Scottish island of Islay. It's a beautiful small island off the western cost of Scotland. The name is a place name, like naming your child Paris or Brooklyn but less known.

It is absolutely not acceptable to insult someone's parents for choosing to honour a tragically lost family member. Keep your comments relevant to the name and consider people's feelings.

People literally name their kids after islands so what is the problem with a name meaning as innocuous as "island"? There are popular names with much worse meanings like...Emily.

Yes, if you lived in the US every other girl under 4 is called isla. Not very nice considering it means island

that is pretty much my nightmare

It's good to hear from parents who have chosen this name, then started hearing it a lot from others. When I began asking around, I discovered it is more popular in my area than I had originally thought, even though I hadn't heard it before. It sounds beautiful to me, and my husband is in love with it. I strongly hesitate at the quickly climbing popularity, though. I also have the concern that she will have to constantly correct others' pronunciation. I might look to Eliza as an alternative?

I've heard people pronounce it iz-la and ees-la. Ugh.

Because in English, it's not the same as naming your child 'island'. You may as well ask why somebody would name their child 'beautiful' (belle or bella) or 'flower' (flora) or any other plant-related name (eg. Rose, Rosemary, Violet, Laurel, Iris, Daisy, Olive). Those words just double up as names in English.

I think 'Malia' is pronounced differently. Malia Obama is pronounced mah-lee-a rather than mel-ee-ah.

Isla Black Hitchens is NOT a Harry Potter character. It's Iola, not Isla, and she isn't even an actual character - she is just mentioned as part of Sirius Black's family tree. She never actually features in the stories.

Just want to make sure that this didn't put anyone off using the name, fearing people would associate it with Harry Potter. They won't.

I did too :) It's a very pretty name

I love this! I don't know why but i pronounce it eyes-la. Lol! I never heard of this name until my favorite actress Isla Fisher came out but I'm just now falling in love with this name because the other day they announced the new Gerber baby. Her name is Isla. She's from Troy, Michigan just like me :)

I know one Isla. I like this name, but I think that in my highly Hispanic-populated area, it would always be pronounced EES-lah. Which isn't bad either.

I'm not Spanish but I don't see any issues with nature names - in fact they are my favorite! Everyone has a different style. Obviously many people, myself included, think Isla is stunning. In my mind, an island is an incredible place that is out of the ordinary. They are beautiful, tranquil, and exotic. I'm considering using Isla Wildflower if my baby is a girl. That is a total nature name and I adore it!

O.M.G. I just found out that Isla for English-speakers is ABSOLUTELY DIFFERENT from the way I pronounce this name. :o
I have heard of Isla Fisher, but everybody that I know pronounce her name as EEs-lah. :o

I understand that and I am sorry for your familiy's loss. I pronouce Malia the way your name is, that's why I said why wasn't Malia used.

My parents named me Meleigha because 1) it was my auntie, who committed suicide two years I was born on the same day as my birthday, had Meleigha as a middle name and they wanted to honor her. And 2), because Meleigha and Malia are different names with different meanings.

nevermind, i just realized that was an i not a lower case l. :(

Why didn't you just use Malia? Meleigha is just unnecessary.

I can understand the appeal of Isla- it sounds short-and-sweet, spunky and feminine. But I personally don't like the "eye-la" pronunciation- there's so much emphasis on the "I" that all I hear is EYE. Also, this name has exploded in popularity, but in a strange contradiction, people also mispronounce the name "iss-la" all the time. I even know a couple who named their daughter this, and pronounced it "iss-la" (accidentally at first, and later deliberately because they just liked than pn better :/ ). Plus whenever I see Isla spelled out, I feel like it's the word "island" with missing letters. I much prefer Ilsa to Isla- not similar in sound, not a variant either, but so close in spelling!

My thoughts exactly!

I can't see why it is so popular either. It is at number three on the list in England. I am not saying this because I don't like it -- it's certainly a beautiful name -- but I just can't see what makes so, so many people want to call their daughter Isla, how it can fit the bill of the one, wonderful, only possible name for so many people. Looking at the other top names on the list, Amelia, Emily, Sophie and other such names are absolute classics; while perhaps they don't equal Isla in prettiness, they are longstanding classics. Isla is a name which hundreds of prospective parents suddenly shovelled up from obscurity and gave it to their child, so many for it to skyrocket, suddenly. It doesn't make sense.

Well, at least Isla isn't that hard to pronounce. And even if people pronounce it as ees-la instead of eye-la, it still sounds pretty. I'm not lucky enough to have a name that sounds nice when it's mispronounced. My name is Meleigha, pronounced Mel-ee-ah. Everyone says 'mel-ay-ah,' 'mel-ga-ha,' 'mel-ee-ja.' 'ma-leigh-a,' and sometimes even Malaysia. xP I've never, ever met a single person who's pronounced it perfectly after first hearing it, or asked me to repeat myself multiple times. So I don't think Isla is that bad compared to some names, since there's really only one likely way it'll be mispronounced.

Funny you ask this, while I was home last week, I had a family member call her "is-la". Really!? We also live in the southeast, so I don't know if that is a regional thing. Also, the more mainstream it gets the fewer compliments there are. We don't regret the name, just get frustrated with how mainstream it has become.

We are considering this name for our daughter and really like it but your post makes me reconsider. I thought I'd have to correct people occasionally, but not all the time. With its growing popularity people still pronounce it wrong? Does your daughter like her name or do you ever get compliments?

WARNING ABOUT THIS NAME!!! We also named our little girl Isla, back when it was rare and different. My poor kid is CONSTANTLY dealing with people unable to pronounce her name! We correct people constantly and she will probably have to do so for the rest of her life. And we now hear this name everywhere. Not as common or popular as Isabella, but I feel it is heading that way. For those of you thinking about this name, be careful. We also have to deal with all of the Disney addicts that were obsessed with Elsa and wanted something similar. Sigh.

My daughters name is unusual and most people say they've never heard it. But come to find out in the next town over there is a little one with the name and they have birthdays within days to eachother. It's not fun but it does happen! :( Isla is still beautiful and I'm considering it for my next girl.

this name is way to adorable.

I don't know. Because it sounds nice in Spanish? I think it does, anyway. Except people might call you AIY-luh instead of EES-lah...

A pretty cute short-sounding name!

Same, like, why???

I think it's a very pretty name. To me the pronounciation is pretty obvious, it's like "isle"

I would say Ila like ill-a

I think if people notice that it's island without the end part then it's fine. But a Spanish speaker would say ees-la. It's zooming up the popularity charts these days though so most people know it. :D

I feel like people would always pronounce it wrong

I love the name, but I think I like more the spanish pronunciation: Ees-lah.

I adore this name :) It just seems common sense to me... to pronounce it eye-laa. Is-laa sounds so strange. I don't really know how people can get mixed up.

I was thinking the same thing but in English we'd name our kids nouns like Haven or Forest so why not Isla? :P

In your opinion. I, and many others, find it lovely :)

Some people, like me, couldn't care less what the name means :D

I LOVE THIS!! :-D

Hi im Isla louse kelly

I like Ila best, actually. Straight to the point, so no misconceptions on how to say it, and has some family tree ties for me.

I have NEVER heard this name where I live.

I really like this name. I know someone who spells it "Iyla", and I like that too. What do you think? Isla or Iyla?

Really me too

My

My sisters name is isla

English speakers commonly use English word names, such as Clover and Maple, so I don't think Isla is that unconventional.

As a Spanish-speaker, why would you name your child "island"??

I named my little girl Isla Mae. To be honest I really didn't like the name at first but it grew on me and fits her perfectly. She gets compliments on it a lot! People do mispronounce it often and say is-la though. I just think it's simple and feminine and will still be a pretty name when she's older.

I don't think its too confusing. It's just like Island with out the last couple letters. Maybe I'm in the 00.1%

I think it is confusing pronunciation. 99.9% of people upon seeing this name will probably think it's is-la.

This name is gorgeous, whether you pronounce it eye-la or is-la.

my aunt named her yorkie Isla

Isla is cute, but for some reason I prefer Island.

I'm a parent who had fallen in LOVE with this name when I chose to name my baby girl, Isla in 2009. I thought it was so pretty and old fashioned. I looked so hard to find something that was not popular and I thought it was perfect because I had never heard of the name before besides the actress, Isla Fisher. I got so many compliments on her name after she was born and people saying how pretty it was and they had never heard it before. Flash forward 4 years later.... I hear it EVERYWHERE!

When I first heard this name, I got confused with the pronunciation and thought it was supposed to be said like "ees-la" or something, haha. But now that I know the real pronunciation, I gotta admit it's pretty cute. I can totally see the appeal.

My mom hates it because she says it sounds like "I'll uh...call you back later" "I'll uh..." etc. etc. So she'd tease me if I used it. Sigh. It's one of my favorites that I didn't like when I first heard it. I thought it was super weird haha.

Bonus is that it's pretty much unheard of in my area.

I think Isla is a beautiful name. It is short and sweet with a pretty, feminine sound. I like it with flower, gem, and nature-themed middle names.

Why is this name so popular? It's not that good.