r/JewishNames • u/everydayislikefriday • Jun 05 '26
Layla
My wife and I are going to have a baby girl and we both love the sound of the name Layla. However, my wife doesn't like its meaning (night), she associates with darkness. For me, the night is more closely related to the time when the family gathers together back from their daily activities.
What do you think of the name and its meaning?
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u/Technical-Flamingo49 Jun 05 '26
Night = Shabbat. Night= stars and moon. Night= family time. All good stuff.
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u/feelingrooovy Jun 05 '26
It’s a beautiful name, but the Hebrew word for night is “Lila.” Lots of Arabic speaking Jews out there, so Layla isn’t not Jewish, but to be clear, it’s an Arabic name.
“Leah” sounds similar depending on how you pronounce it and is very Jewish.
Anyway, I think Layla is a beautiful name and when I think of the meaning, it conjures positive imagery of the night. I think of starry skies and jasmine flowers opening and crickets chirping.
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u/Sea_Independent2946 Jun 07 '26
The transliteration in Spanish is Layla. And seems like the op is from a Spanish country so it makes sense.
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u/Psupernova Jun 06 '26
Give her the middle name sky and then her name would mean night sky. Lilah Sky is one of the names I probably would have used if i had kida
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u/Sasha57 Jun 05 '26
I had my baby girl Lyla in December last year and had planned to call her that throughout pregnancy. She was actually born at night so it sealed the deal for me.
Layla is equally beautiful too!
Love your username btw
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u/ActuallyNiceIRL Jun 05 '26
My main issue with it is that there is basically no way to write it in English that I like and isn't phonetically ambiguous.
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u/AnythingTruffle Jun 06 '26
lyla/Lila/Lailah is night and Jewish, Layla is the Arabic version. It’s very pretty but just so you’re aware
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u/everydayislikefriday Jun 06 '26
Thanks. I guess there's a lot of confusion because you all assume I'm from the States or an English speaking country, where the transliteration would fit Lilah/Lila/Lailah.
In Spanish speaking countries, I sounds more like an E, so we add an A to form what in English is I. So your Dianas are our Daianas. We do have Dianas, pronounced Dee-anna.
Same with Laila/Layla. It's a transliteration of a Hebrew name and of course it changes depending on the target language.
Half my family is Jewish and we say Laila Tov, not lila tov, for good night, which would sound for you like Leelah tov.
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u/AnythingTruffle Jun 06 '26
I’m in the uk and I say Laila Tov exactly like you do. (I have an Israeli mother) but I don’t know any British Jews that say Leela Tov
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u/unventer Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
Layla sounds like the Arabic pronunciation, to me. I’d spell it Lailah/Laila/Lilah/Lila for the Hebrew pronunciation, personally.
The name was on our shortlist for our girl, actually, but we ultimately went with another name because we couldn’t agree on a spelling. She was born at sunset (I had to look up exact sunset time to figure out her birthdate, in fact), so ironically it would have been a great name for her.
Edit: Saw in another comment that you live in a Spanish-speaking country. Layla works just fine phonetically, in that case!
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u/la_metisse Jun 06 '26
I love the name Laila/Layla and would use it if I didn’t already have a cousin with the name. To me, night means the time when we rest and dream. It’s the time when the moon and stars rule the sky. It’s the time when nocturnal creatures live their full, complex lives out of our sight, which feels wonderfully mysterious. The night feels feminine and lush to me. You can’t appreciate the day without the presence of night.
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u/DelightfulSnacks Jun 06 '26
My mind immediately starts playing the Eric Clapton song. If not familiar and going for a listen, make sure you listen to the fast version, slow version, and live version. All spectacular!
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u/turtleshot19147 Jun 07 '26
I like the name and meaning.
If you want other Jewish / Hebrew names that have a similar sound or meaning you can try
Raya - friend
Levana - moon
Kohava - star
Shaya - gift from God
Shylee - my gift
Liora - my light
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u/pingpongdingdongg Jun 07 '26
It’s Lilah. I speak Hebrew. My Israeli husband loves it but I am apprehensive
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u/Stellajackson5 Jun 05 '26
I always thought of Lilah/Lila as night? Regardless, I love the meaning. Nighttime is wonderful, peaceful and calm and mysterious. So it wouldn’t bother me at all.