How to say it
AY · la
/ˈeɪ.lə/
Feminine
Ayla
Halo of light, or 'oak tree'
What it means
Two competing roots: Turkish ayla ('moonlight, halo'), and Hebrew אֵלָה (Elah, 'oak tree'). The 1980 Jean Auel novel The Clan of the Cave Bear gave the name its modern English usage.
Ayla has two roots that arrived in modern English usage in parallel. In Turkish, ayla means 'halo of moonlight' (literally 'moonring,' from ay, 'moon'). In Hebrew, Ela or Elah means 'oak tree' and appears in the Bible as the name of the valley where David fought Goliath. Jean Auel's 1980 novel The Clan of the Cave Bear (and the long Earth's Children series that followed) features a heroine named Ayla, which gave the name its English-language entry point. It's been climbing the US charts since 2010, particularly in Turkish-American and Jewish families but also broadly. Single short forms aren't common.
Popularity over time
peaked at #69 in 2024, currently #77 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pronunciation
AY-lah in English, two syllables. The Turkish root has a softer first syllable.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Ayla (Clan of the Cave Bear) Heroine of Jean Auel's Earth's Children series, six novels from 1980 to 2011
Spelling variants
- Aila
- Ailah
Names with the same feeling
See Ayla from another angle
By meaning
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