Likely a variant of Anila, a Sanskrit-derived name meaning wind or air.
Anilah traces its roots to the Sanskrit word *anila* (अनिल), meaning "wind" or "air," drawn from the ancient Proto-Indo-Iranian linguistic stream that gave rise to much of South Asian vocabulary. In Hindu cosmology, Anila is one of the eight Vasus — elemental deities who personify natural forces — and is closely identified with Vayu, the god of wind. To name a child Anilah is, in this tradition, to invoke breath itself: the animating force that moves through all living things and connects the individual to the vast atmospheric world.
The name appears in early Sanskrit texts and poetry as an attribute of divine motion and freedom, the wind being that which cannot be contained or predicted. The soft -ah suffix gives the name a feminized, melodious ending that distinguishes it from the shorter masculine form Anil, which remains a widely used given name across India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and among the South Asian diaspora. Female variants like Anila and Anilah carry the same elemental charge but with a gentler cadence.
In the contemporary West, Anilah has drawn attention partly through the Canadian singer-songwriter who performs under the name Anilah, whose meditative, drone-influenced music — rooted in ceremonial and healing sound traditions — has introduced the name to audiences far outside its South Asian origin. This association lends the name an additional layer of meaning: breath, music, and invisible force, all woven into four syllables.