# Leela (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/leela/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Sanskrit |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Lila |
| US babies named this | 4,545 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 4,545 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,076, 1996 to 2025 |

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 201 | 1,202 |
| 2012 | 209 | 1,177 |
| 2013 | 227 | 1,088 |
| 2014 | 218 | 1,146 |
| 2015 | 207 | 1,207 |
| 2016 | 232 | 1,106 |
| 2017 | 217 | 1,146 |
| 2018 | 196 | 1,207 |
| 2019 | 192 | 1,225 |
| 2020 | 194 | 1,194 |
| 2021 | 179 | 1,287 |
| 2022 | 179 | 1,321 |
| 2023 | 179 | 1,282 |
| 2024 | 185 | 1,262 |
| 2025 | 175 | 1,282 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 38 | 937 |
| 2012 | 33 | 1,058 |
| 2013 | 46 | 825 |
| 2014 | 79 | 535 |
| 2015 | 126 | 365 |
| 2016 | 76 | 553 |
| 2017 | 69 | 609 |
| 2018 | 50 | 767 |
| 2019 | 47 | 796 |
| 2020 | 43 | 840 |
| 2021 | 42 | 840 |
| 2022 | 43 | 826 |
| 2023 | 41 | 865 |
| 2024 | 38 | 934 |
| 2025 | 51 | 719 |

## People named Leela

- Leela James, American musician
- Leela Savasta, Canadian actress

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.