Popularity of the name Isla, 1886–2025
Isla has never been more popular than it is now: in 2025, 6,012 girls were named Isla, about 1 in 270 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #28. In all, Social Security counts 58,252 girls named Isla since 1886. Social Security’s records also list 19 boys named Isla.
- Peak year
- 2025
- Rank in 2025
- #28
- Babies in 2025
- 6,012
- Total since 1886
- 58,252
Where it stands now
In the past decade the name climbed from #142 in 2015 to #28 in 2025: 2,272 girls got it in 2015, and 6,012 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Its best decade is the 2020s so far, when 32,186 girls were named Isla, #35 for the decade. It started at #1,240 in the 1880s.
Every 20 years in the records: 13 in 1900 (#1,053), 23 in 1920 (#1,751), 10 in 1940 (#2,737), 37 in 2000 (#3,527) and 4,579 in 2020 (#44).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 6,012, in 2025. Its best rank, #28, came in its peak year.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1886 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Isla, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1886 | 7 | #897 |
| 1887 | 11 | #693 |
| 1889 | 5 | #1,279 |
| 1890 | 10 | #872 |
| 1891 | 7 | #1,093 |
| 1892 | 6 | #1,278 |
| 1893 | 7 | #1,175 |
| 1894 | 6 | #1,353 |
| 1895 | 8 | #1,202 |
| 1896 | 7 | #1,292 |
| 1897 | 5 | #1,555 |
| 1898 | 12 | #1,009 |
| 1899 | 6 | #1,394 |
| 1900 | 13 | #1,053 |
| 1901 | 9 | #1,136 |
| 1902 | 9 | #1,219 |
| 1903 | 6 | #1,592 |
| 1904 | 9 | #1,251 |
| 1905 | 16 | #926 |
| 1906 | 11 | #1,154 |
| 1907 | 12 | #1,142 |
| 1908 | 18 | #939 |
| 1909 | 9 | #1,471 |
| 1910 | 14 | #1,207 |
| 1911 | 11 | #1,450 |
| 1912 | 16 | #1,352 |
| 1913 | 22 | #1,176 |
| 1914 | 25 | #1,228 |
| 1915 | 22 | #1,571 |
| 1916 | 35 | #1,210 |
| 1917 | 34 | #1,241 |
| 1918 | 34 | #1,299 |
| 1919 | 31 | #1,393 |
| 1920 | 23 | #1,751 |
| 1921 | 26 | #1,668 |
| 1922 | 41 | #1,207 |
| 1923 | 34 | #1,350 |
| 1924 | 22 | #1,872 |
| 1925 | 25 | #1,700 |
| 1926 | 27 | #1,589 |
| 1927 | 20 | #1,935 |
| 1928 | 26 | #1,589 |
| 1929 | 25 | #1,555 |
| 1930 | 23 | #1,661 |
| 1931 | 20 | #1,750 |
| 1932 | 21 | #1,685 |
| 1933 | 21 | #1,658 |
| 1934 | 12 | #2,424 |
| 1935 | 19 | #1,779 |
| 1936 | 24 | #1,507 |
| 1937 | 15 | #2,101 |
| 1938 | 12 | #2,447 |
| 1939 | 15 | #2,125 |
| 1940 | 10 | #2,737 |
| 1941 | 17 | #2,018 |
| 1942 | 7 | #3,738 |
| 1943 | 9 | #3,249 |
| 1944 | 14 | #2,401 |
| 1945 | 8 | #3,388 |
| 1946 | 5 | #4,960 |
| 1947 | 8 | #4,007 |
| 1948 | 10 | #3,350 |
| 1949 | 7 | #4,235 |
| 1950 | 9 | #3,662 |
| 1951 | 9 | #3,714 |
| 1952 | 8 | #4,123 |
| 1953 | 7 | #4,595 |
| 1962 | 5 | #6,578 |
| 1963 | 5 | #6,592 |
| 1964 | 5 | #6,767 |
| 1965 | 5 | #6,539 |
| 1976 | 5 | #9,284 |
| 1977 | 6 | #8,444 |
| 1978 | 10 | #5,958 |
| 1979 | 5 | #10,210 |
| 1981 | 5 | #10,411 |
| 1982 | 6 | #9,237 |
| 1983 | 5 | #10,275 |
| 1985 | 11 | #6,031 |
| 1986 | 5 | #10,912 |
| 1987 | 8 | #7,987 |
| 1988 | 8 | #8,391 |
| 1989 | 7 | #9,681 |
| 1990 | 9 | #8,501 |
| 1991 | 10 | #7,987 |
| 1992 | 8 | #9,491 |
| 1993 | 7 | #10,588 |
| 1994 | 15 | #5,984 |
| 1995 | 16 | #5,677 |
| 1996 | 13 | #6,723 |
| 1997 | 23 | #4,508 |
| 1998 | 25 | #4,366 |
| 1999 | 18 | #5,661 |
| 2000 | 37 | #3,527 |
| 2001 | 24 | #4,834 |
| 2002 | 29 | #4,280 |
| 2003 | 38 | #3,655 |
| 2004 | 35 | #3,989 |
| 2005 | 54 | #2,969 |
| 2006 | 92 | #2,107 |
| 2007 | 178 | #1,357 |
| 2008 | 493 | #623 |
| 2009 | 945 | #345 |
| 2010 | 1,099 | #297 |
| 2011 | 1,208 | #268 |
| 2012 | 1,385 | #230 |
| 2013 | 1,912 | #167 |
| 2014 | 2,135 | #151 |
| 2015 | 2,272 | #142 |
| 2016 | 2,521 | #127 |
| 2017 | 2,879 | #103 |
| 2018 | 3,410 | #82 |
| 2019 | 4,043 | #57 |
| 2020 | 4,579 | #44 |
| 2021 | 5,542 | #33 |
| 2022 | 5,285 | #36 |
| 2023 | 5,386 | #33 |
| 2024 | 5,382 | #35 |
| 2025 | 6,012 | #28 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.