A variant of Layla, meaning night in Arabic.
Leylah is a variant spelling of Leila or Layla, one of the oldest and most beloved names in the Arabic literary tradition. Rooted in the Semitic word for "night," the name evokes darkness in its romantic sense — mystery, depth, the velvet sky, and the overwhelming beauty that obscures daylight. Classical Arabic poetry made the name immortal through the legend of Qays and Layla, the archetypal tale of impossible love in which the poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah loses his sanity pining for the unattainable Layla — earning him the epithet Majnun ("the mad one").
This story traveled through Persian, Urdu, and Ottoman literature, cementing Layla as the eternal symbol of beloved femininity. The name found new audiences in the West through various channels — Eric Clapton's 1970 rock ballad "Layla," written as an expression of unrequited longing, introduced millions to the name's emotional charge. In the 21st century, Leylah specifically gained notable visibility through Canadian tennis star Leylah Fernandez, who reached the US Open final in 2021 as a teenager, becoming a sporting idol for young girls across the Americas and beyond.
Her Ecuadorian-Filipino heritage underscored how thoroughly the name has transcended its Arabic origins. The spelling Leylah — with its doubled vowel warmth — is a modern Anglophone adaptation that softens the name for Western phonetics while preserving its exotic musicality. It sits comfortably in today's multicultural naming landscape, chosen by parents who want something that sounds both timeless and distinctive, rooted in poetic tradition yet thoroughly contemporary.