Isla

Meaning & origin

Isla reads like an overnight sensation, but the American data shows a long fuse: stray bearers appear as far back as 1886, and the sustained climb dates to 1985. What changed was Britain, Isla became one of the most popular girls' names in Scotland and England during the 2000s and 2010s, and American parents followed, with actress Isla Fisher supplying the pronunciation lesson. By 2025 it stands at rank 28, an all-time high, reaching about one girl in 267.

Its American geography is distinctive: Hawaii leads, with Vermont and Rhode Island behind, island states and small coastal ones, fittingly, for a name that means an island even if only by geography rather than etymology.

Isla's momentum places it among the few top-30 names still setting new peaks, and its profile, two airy syllables, silent s, vintage Scottish credentials, matches the Isla-Esme-Freya wave of British imports. The one caution is a crowded sound neighborhood: Lyla, Ayla, and Ila all chart, so a name chosen partly for distinctiveness now comes with sound-alike company.

Isla is a Scottish place name turned given name. Islay, pronounced exactly like the name, is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides, and rivers called Isla flow through Perthshire and Moray; the island's name is ancient, recorded in early forms such as Ile, and predates Gaelic, so its original meaning is genuinely unknown. The resemblance to Spanish isla, "island," is coincidental. As a first name it grew up in Scotland across the twentieth century, broadcaster Isla St Clair and actress Isla Blair gave it familiar faces, before spreading through the wider English-speaking world in the 2000s. American records show stray examples as early as 1886, but the modern U.S. climb tracks British fashion and the visibility of Australian actress Isla Fisher.

Read more: Isla on Wikipedia