Isla (given name)

Isla (/ˈaɪlə/ EYE-lə) is a feminine given name traditionally of primarily Scottish usage, derived from "Islay", which is the name of an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is also the name of two Scottish rivers. It was the fifth most popular name for baby girls born in Scotland in 2010 and the 70th most popular name for girls born in England and Wales in 2007.^[1] It was among the top 10 names given to girls born on the Isle of Man in 2009 and one of the top five names for girls born in Guernsey in 2010, in 2014 it was the third most popular girls name in the United Kingdom.^[2] It ranked 6th for girls born in New Zealand in 2013.^[3] It appeared in the top 1,000 names for girls in the United States for the first time in 2008, when it ranked in 619th place. Since then it has increased in popularity and ranked at No. 150 for girls born in the United States in 2014.

The name in its original form was Ilay or Islay (e.g. Ilay Campbell), and it was a masculine given name, and was rare among women. Today Isla is regarded as a distinctly female name and Islay a rare male name. Other forms of the girls' name derived from alternate historical spellings of the Scottish island's name include Ile and Ila.

• Isla Blair (born 1944), British actress
• Isla Paschal Richardson (born 1886), writer, author of "To Those I Love"
• Isla Cameron (c. 1930–1980), Scottish actress and singer
• Isla Fisher (born 1976), Australian actress
• Ila Loetscher, early 20th century women's aviation pioneer and explorer
• Isla Phillips (born 2012), great-granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II
• Isla St Clair (born 1952), Scottish actress and singer
• Isla Traquair (born 1980), Scottish broadcast journalist
• Isla Sitwell (1840-1908), author of Poppy and In Far Japan. Her real name was Sidney Mary Beckwith Sitwell (née Wilson) and she actually used her husband's forename.^[4]

References