Character Name
Layla
Layla Layla is a name saturated with romantic longing, nocturnal mystery, and an almost mythic beauty. Characters named Layla often occupy the role of the beloved — the source of another's passion — but the best portrayals give Layla her own interiority: a woman who knows her power and navigates it with complex, layered emotion.
Best genres for Layla
Famous characters named Layla
Layla
Layla and Majnun — Nizami Ganjavi
The unattainable beloved whose name drives the poet Qays to madness (majnun), becoming in Sufi interpretation a symbol of the soul's longing for the divine.
Variations & nicknames
Pairs well with
Writing a character named Layla?
Hearth's distraction-free editor helps you develop characters and write every day.
Related names
Nour
Arabic · “Directly from the Arabic word "nūr" meaning light, radiance, or divine illumination. In Islamic mysticism (Sufism), nūr represents the divine light of God that permeates creation, a concept central to the Quran's famous "Light Verse" (Ayat al-Nur, 24:35), where God is described as the light of the heavens and the earth.”
Samira
Arabic · “From the Arabic root "s-m-r" meaning to entertain with evening conversation, to keep company at night, Samira means "entertainer" or "one who converses at night". It evokes the intimate gathering of friends telling stories by firelight — a deeply cultural practice in Arabic tradition.”
Yasmin
Arabic · “From the Persian and Arabic word "yāsamīn" referring to the jasmine flower, a plant prized for its intensely sweet fragrance. The jasmine is a symbol of love, beauty, and elegance across Persian, Arabic, and South Asian cultures, and the name evokes the delicate yet persistent perfume of the flower.”
More Arabic names
Sinbad
“The name Sinbad (Arabic: Sindbad) may derive from Persian "Sindbad" or Sanskrit "Siddha-pati" (lord of the accomplished), though the true etymology remains uncertain. Sinbad the Sailor is one of the most famous characters from One Thousand and One Nights, a merchant adventurer from Basra whose seven extraordinary voyages became the Arabian world's defining tales of adventure and wonder.”
Lelah
“Lelah is a feminine name, likely a variant of Leila, an Arabic and Persian feminine name from the word layl meaning "night." The name is evocative of dark, mysterious beauty in Arabic and Persian poetic tradition — Leila and Majnun is the great Arab and Persian love story, the Eastern equivalent of Romeo and Juliet.”
Maryam
“The Arabic form of Mary/Miriam, derived from the Hebrew "Miryam" whose precise etymology is debated — suggested meanings include "beloved", "bitter sea", or "wished-for child". In the Quran, Maryam (Mary) is the only woman referred to by name, and she has an entire chapter (Surah 19) dedicated to her, venerated as a model of purity and devotion.”
Zahra
“From the Arabic root "z-h-r" meaning to bloom, to shine, to be radiant, Zahra means "flower", "brilliance", or "radiant one". It is most famously used as an epithet for Fatima al-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, and remains one of the most beloved feminine names across the Islamic world.”
Tariq
“From the Arabic root "ṭ-r-q" meaning to knock, to strike, or the morning star that knocks at the door of night, Tariq evokes the brilliance of a star that pierces darkness. It is borne by Tariq ibn Ziyad, the Berber-Muslim general who led the conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711 CE, lending his name to Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq).”
Zubaidah
“From the Arabic root "z-b-d" meaning butter, cream, or the best and choicest part of something — conveying the richness of the finest thing. Zubaidah bint Ja'far was the powerful wife of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, celebrated for her philanthropy, especially her construction of the "Zubaidah Road" supplying water to Mecca.”
Explore more