NameCensus.

UK girl's name

Kyla

A feminine name of English origin meaning "a Gaelic derivation from Caollaidhe".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Kyla is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Kyla popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #795, with 47 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2010, with 213 births.

This profile covers 2,950 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 22% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 3,520 living people in the UK are called Kyla. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Kyla ranked #795 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 47 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2010, when 213 girls were registered as Kyla.
  • Kyla ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #333 in 2024.
  • About 3,520 living people in the UK are estimated to have Kyla as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#795

2024

Births in 2024

47

Latest year

Peak year

2010

213 births

Estimated living

3,520

2026

Meaning

What does Kyla mean?

The name Kyla is a Scottish variant of the name Cecilia, which has its roots in the ancient Roman family name Caecilius. Caecilius is derived from the Latin word "caecus," meaning "blind." The name Cecilia gained popularity in the early Christian era due to its association with the legendary Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music.

In the Middle Ages, the name Cecilia was commonly used in Scotland, where it evolved into various spellings, including Kyla. The earliest recorded instances of the name Kyla date back to the 16th century in Scottish parish records and census documents.

One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Kyla was Kyla Campbell, a Scottish noblewoman who lived in the late 16th century. She was a prominent figure in the court of King James VI of Scotland and is mentioned in several historical accounts of the time.

Another notable figure with the name Kyla was Kyla Gordon, a Scottish poet and playwright who lived in the early 18th century. Her work, which explored themes of love and nature, was widely acclaimed during her lifetime and has been studied by scholars of Scottish literature.

In the 19th century, Kyla Mackenzie was a Scottish adventurer and explorer who traveled extensively throughout Africa and Asia. Her accounts of her travels were published in several books and journals, making her one of the few female explorers of her time to gain widespread recognition.

The name Kyla also appears in several ancient texts and religious scriptures, although its use was relatively uncommon. In the Book of Psalms, there is a reference to a woman named Kyla who is described as a virtuous and faithful woman.

While the name Kyla has its roots in Scotland and the ancient Roman world, it has since been adopted by various cultures and communities around the globe. Some notable historical figures with the name Kyla include Kyla Masterson, an Australian suffragette and activist in the early 20th century, and Kyla Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American artist and writer who gained recognition for her work in the 1960s.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Kyla over time

The chart below shows babies named Kyla registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Kyla, the clearest high point is 2010. The latest England and Wales figure is 47 births in 2024, compared with 213 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Kyla
053107160213199620102024

Decades

Kyla by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Kyla was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #655 294 5
2010s #404 1,214 10
2000s #368 1,273 10
1990s #689 169 4

Geography

Where Kyla is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Kyla. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Kyla ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #333 in 2024.

Scotland
10
Northern Ireland
4

Across the UK

Kyla in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#333 in 2024

36 years of NRS records, 423 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#337 in 2024

22 years of NISRA records, 166 total registered

Notable bearers

Famous people named Kyla

  • Kyla Nelson

    basketball player

    English basketball player (born 1997)

    1997-

  • Kyla La Grange

    singer-songwriter

    English singer-songwriter(United Kingdom)

    1986-

  • Kyla Brox

    singer

    British singer

    1980-

  • Kyla Greenbaum

    composer; music educator; pianist

    pianist and composer

    1922-2017

  • Kyla Thomas

    university teacher; epidemiologist

    British pharmacoepidemologist

Related

Names similar to Kyla

FAQ

Kyla: questions and answers

How popular is the name Kyla in the UK right now?

In 2024, Kyla was ranked #795 for girls in England and Wales, with 47 births registered.

When was Kyla most popular?

The peak year on record was 2010, with 213 babies registered as Kyla in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Kyla?

A feminine name of English origin meaning "a Gaelic derivation from Caollaidhe".

How many people are called Kyla in the UK?

A total of 2,950 babies have been registered as Kyla across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 423 more in Scotland and 166 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Kyla most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Kyla ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #333 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.