| Leila | Jana | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | night | Harvest; gathered fruits |
| Origin | arabic | arabic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | LAY-lah | JA-nah |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2010 (1,509) | 1961 (1,456) |
| In 2025 | 1,193 | 0 |
| Trend | Steady | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Leila | Jana |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 7,702 | 1,228 |
| 2010s | 13,914 | 2,531 |
| 2000s | 9,904 | 2,395 |
| 1990s | 2,177 | 2,952 |
| 1980s | 2,106 | 7,267 |
| 1970s | 1,624 | 9,168 |
| 1960s | 1,578 | 11,612 |
| 1950s | 1,740 | 7,084 |
| 1940s | 1,852 | 1,661 |
| 1930s | 2,473 | 223 |
| 1920s | 3,340 | 64 |
| 1910s | 2,830 | 0 |
| 1900s | 1,529 | 0 |
| 1890s | 1,588 | 0 |
| 1880s | 1,079 | 0 |
Variant spelling of Layla, from Arabic 'layl' meaning 'night'. The 'Leila' form was popularized in English via 19th-century Western literature.
As an Arabic name Jana (جنى, jana) means 'harvest' or 'the fruits one gathers', from the root j-n-y, and is associated by sound with janna ('garden, paradise'). Disambiguation: Jana is also a Slavic and Central-European feminine form of John/Jane, which is a wholly separate origin.
Leila is more popular than Jana today: about 1,193 US babies were given the name Leila in 2025, compared with 0 named Jana.
Leila means night (arabic origin), while Jana means Harvest; gathered fruits (arabic origin).
In US records, Leila first appears in 1880 and Jana in 0, so Jana has the longer recorded history.