Isla
Isla was given to 6,012 girls in 2025, #28 among girls’ names; 58,271 Americans have been recorded with it since 1886 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 57,000 Americans named Isla and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (98% of everyone recorded); the median is 6 years old and half are between 3 and 10.
Isla was given to 630 more girls in 2025 than in 2024, the #10 gain in babies among girls’ names.
Isla came back: it left the girls’ top 1,000 after 1908 and returned in 2008.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Isla by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Isla mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Isla is “a female given name transferred from the place name. Coined in the twentieth century from an archaic spelling of Islay, an island in the Hebrides.”
/aɪlə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Isla?
#28 among girls’ names, 2025
Isla rose from #142 in 2015 to #28 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 1.3 to 3.7 per 1,000.
6,019 babies in 2025, the peak
Isla peaked in 2025, when 6,019 babies were given it (6,012 girls, #28 among girls’ names). In 2024 it went to 5,382 girls.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6,012 | #28 | 3.7 |
| 2024 | 5,382 | #35 | 3.3 |
| 2023 | 5,386 | #33 | 3.4 |
| 2022 | 5,285 | #36 | 3.2 |
| 2021 | 5,542 | #34 | 3.4 |
| 2020 | 4,579 | #44 | 2.8 |
| 2019 | 4,043 | #57 | 2.4 |
| 2018 | 3,410 | #82 | 2.0 |
| 2017 | 2,879 | #103 | 1.7 |
| 2016 | 2,521 | #127 | 1.4 |
Every recorded year (119)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,272 | #142 | 1.3 |
| 2014 | 2,135 | #151 | 1.2 |
| 2013 | 1,912 | #167 | 1.1 |
| 2012 | 1,385 | #230 | 0.79 |
| 2011 | 1,208 | #268 | 0.69 |
| 2010 | 1,099 | #297 | 0.62 |
| 2009 | 945 | #345 | 0.51 |
| 2008 | 493 | #624 | 0.26 |
| 2007 | 178 | #1,360 | 0.09 |
| 2006 | 92 | #2,115 | 0.05 |
| 2005 | 54 | #2,975 | 0.03 |
| 2004 | 35 | #4,033 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 38 | #3,680 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 29 | #4,317 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 24 | #4,885 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 37 | #3,545 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 18 | #5,746 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 25 | #4,413 | 0.01 |
| 1997 | 23 | #4,566 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 13 | #6,875 | 0.01 |
| 1995 | 16 | #5,781 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 15 | #6,106 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 7 | #11,001 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 8 | #9,811 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 10 | #8,189 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 9 | #8,744 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 7 | #10,090 | under 0.01 |
| 1988 | 8 | #8,684 | under 0.01 |
| 1987 | 8 | #8,266 | under 0.01 |
| 1986 | 5 | #11,582 | under 0.01 |
| 1985 | 11 | #6,185 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 5 | #10,869 | under 0.01 |
| 1982 | 6 | #9,639 | under 0.01 |
| 1981 | 5 | #10,991 | under 0.01 |
| 1979 | 5 | #10,773 | under 0.01 |
| 1978 | 10 | #6,103 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 6 | #8,840 | under 0.01 |
| 1976 | 5 | #9,833 | under 0.01 |
| 1965 | 5 | #6,897 | under 0.01 |
| 1964 | 5 | #7,161 | under 0.01 |
| 1963 | 5 | #6,997 | under 0.01 |
| 1962 | 5 | #6,947 | under 0.01 |
| 1953 | 7 | #4,763 | under 0.01 |
| 1952 | 8 | #4,267 | under 0.01 |
| 1951 | 9 | #3,825 | under 0.01 |
| 1950 | 9 | #3,788 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 7 | #4,405 | under 0.01 |
| 1948 | 10 | #3,443 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 8 | #4,131 | under 0.01 |
| 1946 | 5 | #5,246 | under 0.01 |
| 1945 | 8 | #3,501 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 14 | #2,448 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 9 | #3,349 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 7 | #3,896 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 17 | #2,045 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 10 | #2,832 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 15 | #2,162 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 12 | #2,496 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 15 | #2,132 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 24 | #1,527 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 19 | #1,811 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 12 | #2,492 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 21 | #1,679 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 21 | #1,713 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 20 | #1,772 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 23 | #1,680 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 25 | #1,574 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 26 | #1,613 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 20 | #1,976 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 27 | #1,599 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 25 | #1,718 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 22 | #1,897 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 34 | #1,367 | 0.03 |
| 1922 | 41 | #1,216 | 0.03 |
| 1921 | 26 | #1,697 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 23 | #1,776 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 31 | #1,407 | 0.03 |
| 1918 | 34 | #1,312 | 0.03 |
| 1917 | 34 | #1,250 | 0.03 |
| 1916 | 35 | #1,220 | 0.03 |
| 1915 | 22 | #1,594 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 25 | #1,245 | 0.03 |
| 1913 | 22 | #1,198 | 0.04 |
| 1912 | 16 | #1,386 | 0.03 |
| 1911 | 11 | #1,495 | 0.03 |
| 1910 | 14 | #1,240 | 0.04 |
| 1909 | 9 | #1,531 | 0.03 |
| 1908 | 18 | #955 | 0.05 |
| 1907 | 12 | #1,168 | 0.04 |
| 1906 | 11 | #1,190 | 0.04 |
| 1905 | 16 | #947 | 0.05 |
| 1904 | 9 | #1,309 | 0.03 |
| 1903 | 6 | #1,685 | 0.02 |
| 1902 | 9 | #1,262 | 0.03 |
| 1901 | 9 | #1,179 | 0.04 |
| 1900 | 13 | #1,077 | 0.04 |
| 1899 | 6 | #1,489 | 0.03 |
| 1898 | 12 | #1,028 | 0.05 |
| 1897 | 5 | #1,653 | 0.02 |
| 1896 | 7 | #1,356 | 0.03 |
| 1895 | 8 | #1,245 | 0.03 |
| 1894 | 6 | #1,416 | 0.03 |
| 1893 | 7 | #1,234 | 0.03 |
| 1892 | 6 | #1,355 | 0.03 |
| 1891 | 7 | #1,146 | 0.04 |
| 1890 | 10 | #901 | 0.05 |
| 1889 | 5 | #1,373 | 0.03 |
| 1887 | 11 | #713 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 7 | #938 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Isla a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Isla has been given almost only to girls: 19 boys in 119 years of records.
Girls and boys named Isla: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Isla, and how old are they?
57,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 98% of the 58,271 Americans ever recorded as Isla. The median Isla alive today is 6 years old; half are between 3 and 10.
The 2020 Census counted 24,788 people named Isla (24,750 women and girls, 38 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 26,220 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 73 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 57 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 29 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 130 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 5,640 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 51,100 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Isla born?
The states with the most babies named Isla are California, Florida and Texas, with 25% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 606 | #34 | 1.0× |
| Florida | 445 | #19 | 0.9× |
| Texas | 433 | #53 | 0.6× |
| New York | 249 | #50 | 0.7× |
| North Carolina | 245 | #16 | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 243 | #19 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 229 | #23 | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 227 | #15 | 1.2× |
| Illinois | 205 | #27 | 1.0× |
| Virginia | 178 | #22 | 1.0× |
Where Isla is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Isla is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1910 it was given 1.6 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Isla with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 67,393 babies since 1880, Isla is the most given (86% of them). In 2025 it was given to 6,019 of their 6,286 babies (96%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Isla
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Isla and names like it
- Compare Isla and IselaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sIsla peaked in 2025.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Isla since 1910.
- From place namesWiktionary’s origin for Isla: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2025The year the most babies were named Isla.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Isla alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with IMost given first.