Lela

Lela is often considered a variant spelling of Leila, which comes from Arabic and means "dark," or "night," or even "dark as the night." You get the idea. Considering that "Leila" is often pronounced as "lay-la", how does Lela get to be considered a variant spelling of Leila? Here is one way that this can happen. Let's say you write a book and you name your main character "Leila." Someone reads the book, and even though in your head the pronunciation for the name was "lay-la," the reader hears it in her head as "lee-la." She likes the name, and she names her daughter "Leila," pronounced "lee-la." Years later, another lady has a baby, and must choose a name. She was once introduced to Leila (lee-la), and loved the sound of the name. She never saw how the bearer spelled it, and does not care; she simply likes the sound. She names her baby "Lela." And there you go. Some sources also describe Lela as a Spanish name meaning "lofty." Lela was used as a given name fairly often in the U.S. in the 1800's, and was still in use in the early 1900's, but disappeared from the top 1000 after the 1960's. This is a name that currently still sounds at least somewhat old-fashioned, and it was crowded out by all the "new" names that were drafted into the name pool over the past decades. It could easily enough return to popularity with the right catalyst such as a famous actress, model, or fictional character. Lela is an extremely good name for a dog or cat.