Laila

Arabic for night, Laila is the dark-haired heroine of one of the Middle East's oldest love poems, the seventh-century story of Layla and Majnun whose devotion drove him to madness in the desert. Eric Clapton borrowed her name for a guitar riff, and American parents have been listening ever since, pushing Laila into the U.S. top 400 with steady momentum. The name threads through Swahili, Persian, and Finnish traditions too, carrying nocturnal warmth in each. Two liquid syllables, the L echoing itself, the AI opening like a door. Laila reads lyrical and romantic, a name with moonlight in it.