Fun Facts About the Name Ayla
- Back among the favorites: Ayla returned to the U.S. top 100 in 1883 and stayed there for 2 consecutive years, through 2025.
- More than 38 thousand babies named Ayla: U.S. records list 38,015 babies given the name Ayla from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Ayla Mean?
Ayla is a feminine name with two separate established origins, Turkish and Hebrew, which happen to produce the same spelling in Latin letters. In Turkish, the name comes from ay, "moon." It is usually explained as "moonlight" or as the ring of light sometimes seen around the moon, and a literal reading of ay plus the suffix -la/-le ("with") comes close to "with the moon" or "moon-like."
In Hebrew, Ayla (אַיְלָה) is connected to ayalah, "doe" or "female deer," the feminine counterpart of ayal, "stag." It is used as a girl's name in Israel and is sometimes treated as a short form of Ayala.
The Turkish "moonlight" sense and the Hebrew "doe" sense are independent, so the name carries more than one accepted meaning rather than a single disputed one.
Ayla Name History & Origins
Ayla is an ordinary given name in Turkey, formed from the Turkish word for moon, ay. It also appears in Azerbaijani, where ay means "moon" as well and the name is understood as "moonlight." In both languages it functions as a normal girl's name rather than being tied to one famous bearer.
In Hebrew, the name belongs to a family of words for deer: the masculine ayal and the feminine ayalah both appear in the Hebrew Bible, and the shorter Ayla is used in modern Hebrew as a girl's name. This gives the name a development separate from the Turkish name.
In English, Ayla became familiar through Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children series, starting with The Clan of the Cave Bear (1980), whose central character is named Ayla. That is a literary use of the name, not its earliest appearance; the Turkish and Hebrew names were already in use before those novels were published.
How Popular is the Name Ayla?
Ayla recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2024. Ayla ranked among the top 100 U.S. names from 2022 through 2022, then returned in 2024 and remained through 2025.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #77 | 3,149 | 0.1959% |
| 2024 | #69 | 3,236 | 0.2006% |
| 2023 | #105 | 2,559 | 0.1597% |
| 2022 | #98 | 2,757 | 0.1682% |
| 2021 | #107 | 2,581 | 0.1574% |
| 2020 | #131 | 2,025 | 0.1253% |
| 2019 | #163 | 1,745 | 0.1040% |
| 2018 | #190 | 1,587 | 0.0933% |
| 2017 | #232 | 1,358 | 0.0787% |
| 2016 | #258 | 1,237 | 0.0698% |
| 2015 | #265 | 1,204 | 0.0675% |
| 2014 | #277 | 1,187 | 0.0665% |
| 2013 | #289 | 1,110 | 0.0633% |
| 2012 | #250 | 1,294 | 0.0735% |
| 2011 | #347 | 925 | 0.0526% |
| 2010 | #351 | 914 | 0.0514% |
| 2009 | #396 | 793 | 0.0432% |
| 2008 | #406 | 796 | 0.0421% |
| 2007 | #381 | 864 | 0.0449% |
| 2006 | #265 | 1,233 | 0.0649% |
| 2005 | #664 | 417 | 0.0226% |
| 2004 | #714 | 372 | 0.0203% |
| 2003 | #794 | 312 | 0.0171% |
| 2002 | #791 | 297 | 0.0165% |
| 2001 | #785 | 301 | 0.0167% |
| 2000 | #874 | 252 | 0.0139% |
| 1999 | #872 | 247 | 0.0139% |
| 1998 | #911 | 231 | 0.0131% |
| 1997 | #982 | 199 | 0.0114% |
| 1996 | #847 | 235 | 0.0134% |
| 1995 | #816 | 241 | 0.0137% |
| 1994 | #819 | 246 | 0.0138% |
| 1993 | #808 | 248 | 0.0137% |
| 1992 | #783 | 261 | 0.0142% |
| 1991 | #736 | 282 | 0.0150% |
| 1990 | #818 | 241 | 0.0127% |
| 1989 | #838 | 225 | 0.0122% |
| 1988 | #709 | 267 | 0.0150% |
| 1987 | #594 | 329 | 0.0189% |
| 1986 | #1,379 | 93 | 0.0054% |
| 1985 | #2,225 | 46 | 0.0027% |
| 1984 | #2,343 | 41 | 0.0024% |
| 1983 | #2,434 | 38 | 0.0023% |
| 1982 | #5,234 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1981 | #9,220 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1979 | #10,340 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1978 | #9,893 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1977 | #9,762 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1963 | #5,928 | 6 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
Explore Name Lists Featuring Ayla
Carl appears in several baby name collections based on U.S. popularity records, naming trends, and name characteristics. Explore these lists to discover other names with similar histories, styles, or features.
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How the Name Ayla Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Creative and outgoing, you are always looking for an opportunity to show your abilities, especially before audience. You are very flexible and like to feel appreciated. You are looking for chances to mix with others socially and to communicate your ideas. You like to talk and can easily relate to different cultures and concepts. The biggest challenge for you is uncertainty. Easily getting bored, you can move from one job to another, switch projects and lovers. The high creative force can lead you either to happiness or unhappiness. If you understand your goals, if you can make major decisions in life and follow it directly and straight up without worry and uncertainty, you are able to achieve great heights.
✦ Ayla's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Ayla's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.