Lila

LY-la or LEE-la

Arabic, Sanskrit

"night; play"

Lila Origin and Meaning

The name Lila is a girl's name of Arabic, Hindi, Persian origin meaning "night; play".

Lila was derived from the Arabic word laylah, meaning “night.” It has separate roots in Sanskrit with the meaning “play.” In Hinduism, Lila is a conceptualism of the universe as a playground of the gods. Lilah and Lyla are variant spellings.

Lila is one of the girls' names with a double l sound—Lila, Lola, and Lily—that have recently caught on, and we must admit we love—make that love love love—them all. Delicate yet dynamic, Lila has a slightly exotic flair. In Hinduism, Lila is a conceptualism of the universe as a playground of the gods.

The only caveat: As a group, the double L names have gotten so stylish so quickly that they're verging on full-blown trendiness and tend to blend into one another. So while there may not be another little girl named Lila in town, between those named Lillian, Lily, Layla and so on, you may feel there's a double L overload.

Lila has been a recent hot TV character name, seen on such shows asDamages and Dexter, as well as Friday Night Lights, where the name is spelled Lyla—another trendy version.

Trivia tidbit: Diane Sawyer was born Lila Diane.

• 227 US 2019
• 96 Nameberry 2021
• 327 England 2019
• 81 France 2019
• 208 2028 2028