Leila ({{langx|ar|ليلى}}, {{langx|he|לילה}}),is a feminine given name primarily found in the Middle East, including Semitic speaking countries, Iran, and Turkey. In the Latin alphabet, the name is commonly spelled in multiple ways, including Leila, Layla, Laylah, Laila, Leyla, and Leylah.

({{Transliteration|arc|lēləyā}}) in Aramaic, {{lang|he|לילה}} ({{Transliteration|he|layla}}) in Hebrew, {{lang|ar|لَيْل}} ({{Transliteration|ar|layl}}) or {{lang|ar|لَيْلَى}} ({{Transliteration|ar|layla}}) in Arabic, and {{lang|syc|ܠܹܠܝܵܐ}} ({{Transliteration|syc|lēlyā}}) in Syriac.

In Arabic and Hebrew, the word Leila or Laila means "night", "dark"{{cite web|url=https://www.pealim.com/dict/4234-layla/|title=לילה – night – Hebrew conjugation tables}} and the name is often given to girls born during the night, signifying "daughter of the night".{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

The story of Qays and Layla or Layla and Majnun is based on the romantic poems of Qais Ibn Al-Mulawwah ({{langx|ar|links=no|قيس بن الملوح}}) in 7th century Arabia, who was nicknamed Majnoon Layla ({{lang|ar|مجنون ليلى}}), Arabic for "madly in love with Layla", referring to his cousin Layla Al-Amiriah ({{lang|ar|ليلى العامرية}}).{{cite web |url=http://arablit.org/2014/11/04/chronicles-of-majnun-layla-selected-poems/ |title='Chronicles of Majnun Layla & Selected Poems': A Different Kind of Crazy|date=4 November 2014}} His poems are considered the paragon of unrequited chaste love. They later became a popular romance in medieval Iran,{{cite web|url=http://www.behindthename.com/name/layla|title=Layla|website=Behind the Name|access-date=12 January 2012}} and use of the name spread accordingly. The name gained popularity further afield in the Persianate world such as Iran and Pakistan also amongst Turkic peoples and in the Balkans and India.

The Indian version is "Leela" or "Lila." Some people of Indian origin use the spelling "Leila." The name in Sanskrit loosely translates to "divine play."

In the Nordic countries, Laila or Lajla is derived from the Sami name Láilá, the Sami variant of Helga which means "holy".{{cite web|url=http://www.behindthename.com/name/la10ila10|title=Láilá|website=Behind the Name|access-date=12 January 2012}}

People with this name

=Laila=

Laila Akhmetova (born 1954), Kazakh doctor of historical sciences
Laila Ali (born 1977), boxer and daughter of Muhammad Ali
Laila Ali Abdulla (born 1965), First Lady of the Maldives
Laila Bagge (born 1972), Swedish manager and songwriter
Laila Bērziņa (born 1965), Latvian politician
Laila Bjurling (born 1947), Swedish politician
Laila Edwards (born 2004), American ice hockey player
Laila Freivalds (born 1942), Swedish Social-Democrat
Laila Harré (born 1966), New Zealand politician
Laila Hirvisaari (1938-2021), Finnish author and writer
Laila El Khalifi (better known as Leila K) (born 1971), Swedish singer and rapper
Laila Kinnunen (1939-2000), Finnish singer
Laila Lalami (born 1968), Moroccan-American novelist and essayist
Laila Mehdin (born 1980), Indian actress
Laila Morse (born 1945), English actress
Laila Pakalniņa (born 1962), Latvian director
Laila Phelia (born 2002), American basketball player
Laila Rouass (born 1971), English actress
Laila Soueif (born 1956), Egyptian human and women's rights activist
Laila Smith (born 2006), American singer
Laila Stien (born 1946), Norwegian writer
Laila Wasti (born 1977), Pakistani actress and director
Laila Woozeer, British author and activist
DJ Laila (born 1978), Filipino radio and television presenter

=Layla=

Layla al-Akhyaliyya, 8th century AD Umayyad Arab poet
Layla Balabakki (1934–2023), Lebanese writer and activist
Layla El (born 1977), British wrestler, dancer, model, actress, and entrepreneur
Layla Handbury (born 1982), Australian MC
Layla Iskandar (born 2002), Lebanese footballer
Layla Kayleigh (born 1986), G4 host on the US television program, Attack of the Show!
Layla Kaylif (born 1971), British Emirati singer
Layla McCarter (born 1979), American boxer
Layla Moran (born 1982), British Liberal Democrat politician
Layla Palmer, singer and keyboardist for the band Amity Lane
Layla Taj, American-Egyptian dancer
DJ Layla, a Romanian music project
MC Layla (born 1982), Australian rapper
Sultana Yesmin Layla (born 1993), Bangladeshi singer

=Laylah=

Laylah Ali (born 1968), American visual artist
Laylah Ali Othman (born 1986), Nigerian businesswoman

=Leila=

Leila Abashidze (1929-2018), Georgian actress
Leila Aboulela (born 1964), Sudanese writer
Leila Ahmed (born 1940), Egyptian-American professor
Leila Anderson (born 1984), South African performance artist
Leïla Ben Ali (born 1956), Tunisian political figure
Leila Arab (born 1971), London-based musician of Persian descent
Leila Barros (born 1971), Brazilian volleyball player
Leila Bela (born 1970), Iranian-American musician, actress and writer
Leïla Chaibi (born 1982), French politician
Leila de Lima (born 1959), Filipino human rights activist
Leila Denmark (1898-2012), American pediatrician
Leila Esfandyari (1971{{ndash}}2011), Iranian mountain climber
Leila Farzad (born 1981), British actress
Leila Forouhar (born 1959), Iranian singer and actress
Leila Ben-Gacem (born 1969), Tunisian social entrepreneur
Leila Goldkuhl (born 1991), American model
Leila Hatami (born 1972), Iranian actress
Leila Hayes (1940–2025), Australian actress
Leila Herbert (1868-1897), American author
Leila Hyams (1905-1977), American film actress
Leïla Jaffel (born 1960), Tunisian politician and jurist
Leila Josefowicz (born 1977), American violinist
Leila Kasra (1939-1989), Iranian poet and lyricist
Leila Khaled (born 1944), Palestinian hijacker and PFLP member
Leila Lopes (pageant titleholder) (born 1986), Miss Universe 2011 from Angola
Leila Luik (born 1985), Estonian long-distance runner
Leila Mardanshina (1927-2017), Soviet and Russian gas and oil operator
Leila McKinnon, Iranian-Australian journalist
Leila Mimmack, (born 1993), English actress
Leila Mourad (1918-1995), Egyptian singer and movie star
Leila Ouahabi (born 1993), Spanish footballer
Leila Pahlavi (1970-2001), Princess of Iran
Leila Säälik (born 1941), Estonian actress
Leïla Slimani (born 1981), French-Moroccan writer and journalist
Leila Sobral (born 1974), Brazilian basketball player
Leila Al Solh (born 1946), Lebanese public figure
Leila Tong (born 1981), Hong Kong actress and singer
Leila Vaziri (born 1985), Iranian-American swimmer, world record holder
Leila Waddell (1880-1932), mistress of British occultist Aleister Crowley

=Leilah=

Leilah Assunção (born 1943), Brazilian dramatist, actress and writer
Leilah Mahi (1890–1932), French writer
Leilah Nadir, Canadian writer
Leïla Sy (born 1977), French film director
Leilah Weinraub (born 1979), American filmmaker and conceptual artist

=Lejla=

Lejla Agolli (born 1950), Albanian composer
Lejla Basic (born 1994), Swedish footballer
Lejla Hot (born 1986), Serbian pop singer, musician, and songwriter
Lejla Kalamujić (born 1980), queer writer from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Lejla Tanović (born 1994), Bosnian mountain bike racer

=Lelia=

Lelia N. Morris (1862{{ndash}}1929), American hymnwriter

=Leyla=

Leyla Achba (1898-1931), princess at the Ottoman Empire court
Leyla Bağcı (born 1990), Turkish-Dutch footballer
Leyla Chihuán (born 1975), Peruvian volleyball player
Leyla Gencer (1928-2008), Turkish soprano opera singer
Leyla Güngör (born 1993), Turkish-Swedish footballer
Leyla Mamedbekova (1921-2006), Azerbaijani pathologist
Leyla Mammadbeyova (1909-1989), the first female Azerbaijani aviator
Leyla Milani (born 1982), Canadian model of Iranian descent
Leyla Neyzi (born 1961), Turkish academic
Leyla Pınar, Turkish harpsichordist and musicologist
Leyla Qasim (1952-1974), Kurdish activist in Iraq
Leyla Saz (1850-1936), composer, poet and writer of Cretan Turkish descent
Leyla Soleymani, Canadian scientist
Leyla Tuğutlu (born 1989), Turkish beauty queen
Leyla Vakilova (1927-1999), Azerbaijani ballerina
Leyla Yeniay Köseoğlu (1926–2002), Turkish politician
Leyla Zana (born 1961), Kurdish politician from Turkey

=Leylah=

Leylah Alliët (born 1991), Belgian beauty pageant titleholder
Leylah Fernandez (born 2002), Canadian tennis player

Film, music and literature

Laila, Norwegian silent film starring Mona Mårtenson
Laila, album by Shahin Badar
Layla, song by Derek and the Dominos
Leila, song by Indochine in the album L'aventurier
Leila, essay by Margaret Fuller
Leila, song by Miami Horror in the EP The Shapes
Lejla, song by Hari Mata Hari
Laila, song by Kourosh Yaghmaei

=Fictional and mythological characters=

Laila, character portrayed by Sunny Leone in item song "Laila Main Laila" from Raees
Laila Lewin in the book series The Wheel of Time
Lailah, an angel of the night in Jewish mythology
Layla in the Japanese manga Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji, first introduced in chapter 172
Layla in the animated series Winx Club
Layla in the 1st Story Maxi CD 「Seisen no Iberia / 聖戦のイベリア」 of Sound Horizon
Layla in the classic Arabic love story Layla and Majnun
Layla, from series 3-5 of The Story of Tracy Beaker, portrayed by Cara Readle
Layla, a character in 2020 video game Genshin Impact
Layla El-Faouly / Scarlet Scarab in the Marvel Cinematic Universe TV show Moon Knight
Layla Hamilton in the Japanese manga series Kaleido Star
Layla Hassan, character in the Assassin's Creed video game series
Layla Heartfilia in the Japanese manga series Fairy Tail
Layla Miller in the Marvel universe
Layla M. Luzhkova{{efn|"Leyla M. Ruzhkova in Funimation.}} in the Japanese anime series Sakura Wars the Animation
Layla Prismriver, a character briefly mentioned in the Japanese doujin game series (shoot 'em up) Touhou Project
Layla Serizawa in the Japanese manga series NANA
Leela in the animated TV show Futurama
Leela (Doctor Who), a companion of the Fourth Doctor (1977–78)
Leela Lomax, a character in soap opera Hollyoaks
Leila, a playable character in Final Fantasy II
Leila, a daughter of main character in video game by Saber Interactive Inversion
Leila Dalton, protagonist of the Night Prince novels by Jeaniene Frost
Leila Hosnani, mother of Nessim (and Narouz) Hosnani, in Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet
Leila Kwan Zimmer, a character in the Netflix series Grand Army
Leila Organa or Principessa Leila (Italian name of Princess Leia Organa, in the Italian version of Star Wars), Star Wars character
Leïla, heroine of Bizet's opera Les Pecheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers), 1863
Leyla Harding in the British soap opera Emmerdale
Leyla Sancak in The Protector (Turkish TV series)
Lilah Morgan in Angel (1999 TV series) TV show
Lyla Garrity in the television series Friday Night Lights