Isla · Daily fortune

Isla is a feminine name of Scottish origin. Behind the Name calls it a variant of Islay, typically used as a feminine name; Wikipedia identifies Islay as an island off the west coast of Scotland and adds that the same word names two Scottish rivers and that its root has no known origin, so the name has no established dictionary meaning. It was originally a rare masculine name in the form Ilay or Islay and is now regarded as distinctly female. Spreading from Scotland, it became very popular across the English-speaking world in the 2010s and 2020s; in the United States it ranked #28 for girls in 2025 (SSA). It is pronounced EYE-lə, not like the Spanish word isla ("island").

Behind the Name gives Isla as a "variant of Islay, typically used as a feminine name", and does not gloss it. Wikipedia supplies the place: Islay is an island off the west coast of Scotland, and the same name belongs to two Scottish rivers; it states plainly that "the root word has no known origin". So while the derivation from the place name is agreed by both sources, the name carries no verified meaning beyond "of Islay". The Behind the Name Islay entry was not in the cache used for this profile, so any further note it might give on the island's name is not recorded here. One coincidence is worth stating because it causes confusion: Behind the Name observes that the spelling also matches the Spanish word isla meaning "island", though that word is pronounced differently. The overlap is accidental, not a shared origin.

Isla's history as a personal name is short and mostly Scottish. Wikipedia records that the name in its original form was Ilay or Islay, that it was a masculine given name (its example is Ilay Campbell) and that it was rare among women. Today, it says, Isla is regarded as a distinctly female name and Islay a rare male one. The Scottish bearers Wikipedia lists, born from the 1930s onward, include the actress and singer Isla Cameron, the actress Isla Blair, the novelist Isla Dewar and the actress and singer Isla St Clair, which fits Behind the Name's description of the name "spreading from Scotland". The Australian nurse Isla Blomfield (1865–1959) is the earliest bearer either source names. The breakout came recently: Behind the Name says Isla became very popular in the English-speaking world in the 2010s and 2020s, and Wikipedia agrees that it has increased in popularity in recent years in English-speaking countries. Neither consulted source dates the earliest use of Isla as a given name or explains the shift from masculine to feminine.

Isla ranked #28 for girls in the United States in 2025 (Social Security Administration). Behind the Name describes the name as having become very popular in the English-speaking world in the 2010s and 2020s after spreading from Scotland, and Wikipedia notes the same recent rise in English-speaking countries. Neither source gives figures for Scotland, England and Wales, Australia or other countries, and none were fetched for this profile.

Isla is two syllables with a silent "s": EYE-lə, IPA /ˈaɪlə/ (Wikipedia). The Behind the Name entry gives no IPA. Because the spelling coincides with the Spanish word isla, Spanish speakers may read it with the Spanish pronunciation, which Behind the Name notes is different; that pronunciation was not verified in this pass. Behind the Name lists usage only as Scottish and English, so there are few local forms to report.

Isla belongs to the wave of short, vowel-led girls' names that feel light and modern without being invented: Ava, Ella, Mia, Ivy. The silent "s" gives it a written elegance that its spoken form, two soft syllables, does not need. Its Scottish-island origin gives it a nature and place-name flavour that appeals to parents avoiding both frilly classics and trend spellings, and its rise from a rare local name to a top-30 American choice means it now reads as current rather than obscure. It is usually shortlisted beside Ava, Isabella, Eloise, Iris and Skye.

Isla's namesakes are mostly Scottish and Australian performers and writers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The bearers below are those named in the Wikipedia entry consulted for this profile; Behind the Name names no bearers.

Names that share Isla's short vowel-led sound, its Scottish or place-name origin, or its light modern register.