Name
Ayla
Meaning
Ayla is a feminine name of Turkish origin meaning “moonlight, halo around the moon”.
In Turkish, Ayla denotes the glow of light surrounding the moon. English speakers met the name through the heroine of Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear novels, and it now thrives independently, sometimes overlapping with the unrelated Hebrew name Eilah, meaning oak or terebinth tree.
Climbed into the US girls' top 100 in the early 2020s.
Popularity in the United States
Girls
Ranked #77 in 2025 · peak #69 in 2024
Data: US Social Security Administration, top-1000 ranks.
At a glance
- Origin
- Turkish
- Gender
- Feminine
- Pronounced
- /AY-lah/
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Questions
Ayla is a feminine name of Turkish origin meaning “moonlight, halo around the moon”. In Turkish, Ayla denotes the glow of light surrounding the moon.
Ayla is traditionally a feminine (girl) name. Climbed into the US girls' top 100 in the early 2020s.
The name Ayla comes from Turkish. In Turkish, Ayla denotes the glow of light surrounding the moon. English speakers met the name through the heroine of Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear novels, and it now thrives independently, sometimes overlapping with the unrelated Hebrew name Eilah, meaning oak or terebinth tree.
Ayla is pronounced AY-lah.
More names that mean moon
Names that share this meaning.