Kalilah
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- ka-LEE-la
- Origin
- Arabic
- UK rank, 2025
- #3,101 for girls
- US rank, 2025
- #1,673 for girls
Kalilah is a girls' name of Arabic origin, meaning “close friend”. In 2025 it ranked 3,101st for girls in the UK (8 babies) and 1,673rd for girls in the US (123 babies).
What does Kalilah mean?
Arabic: spelling of Khalilah, feminine of Khalil
“close friend”
A spelling of Khalilah, the feminine form of the Arabic name Khalil, 'friend'.
Is Kalilah a girl's or a boy's name?
Kalilah is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 8 girls in the UK and 123 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Kalilah in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 3,101st among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 8 about 1 in 35,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Rising fast up 180% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 8 girls in the UK were named Kalilah, making it the 3,101st most popular name for girls. Its busiest year was 2024, with 12 girls.
In 2025, 37 girls in the UK were given Kalilah or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #904, up from #3,101 for this spelling alone.
Among girls in 2025, it was 3,033rd in England and Wales.
Kalilah in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8 | #3,101 |
| 2024 | 12 | #2,323 |
| 2023 | 8 | #3,098 |
| 2022 | 4 | #4,870 |
| 2021 | 5 | #4,148 |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 3 | #5,804 |
| 2018 | 7 | #3,344 |
How popular is Kalilah in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 1,673rd among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 123 about 1 in 13,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Rising fast up 127% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 123 girls in the US were named Kalilah, making it the 1,673rd most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 3,914th. It first appears in the records in 1976.
It has been given to more girls each year for the last 5 years. 2025 had the most girls named Kalilah of any year since it first appeared, in 1976.
Half of all the girls named Kalilah in the US since 1880 were born between 2009 and 2024, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 217 girls in the US were given Kalilah or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #1,008, up from #1,673 for this spelling alone.
Kalilah in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 123 | #1,673 |
| 2024 | 105 | #1,895 |
| 2023 | 54 | #3,047 |
| 2022 | 46 | #3,415 |
| 2021 | 44 | #3,490 |
| 2020 | 36 | #3,914 |
| 2019 | 57 | #2,891 |
| 2018 | 31 | #4,457 |
| 2017 | 37 | #3,995 |
| 2016 | 14 | #7,985 |
| 2015 | 19 | #6,450 |
| 2014 | 22 | #5,795 |
| 2013 | 17 | #7,027 |
| 2012 | 18 | #6,868 |
| 2011 | 19 | #6,561 |
| 2010 | 12 | #9,227 |
| 2009 | 12 | #9,375 |
| 2008 | 13 | #8,961 |
| 2007 | 14 | #8,516 |
| 2006 | 10 | #10,606 |
| 2005 | 7 | #13,003 |
| 2004 | 9 | #10,684 |
| 2003 | 13 | #7,993 |
| 2002 | 8 | #11,102 |
| 2001 | 10 | #9,344 |
| 2000 | 10 | #9,156 |
| 1999 | 7 | #11,378 |
| 1998 | 8 | #10,116 |
| 1997 | 10 | #8,329 |
| 1996 | 0 | – |
| 1995 | 6 | #11,778 |
| 1994 | 6 | #11,771 |
| 1993 | 6 | #11,773 |
| 1992 | 0 | – |
| 1991 | 0 | – |
| 1990 | 0 | – |
| 1989 | 0 | – |
| 1988 | 5 | #11,792 |
| 1987 | 0 | – |
| 1986 | 0 | – |
| 1985 | 6 | #9,304 |
| 1984 | 7 | #8,149 |
| 1983 | 0 | – |
| 1982 | 7 | #8,222 |
| 1981 | 5 | #10,409 |
| 1980 | 12 | #5,543 |
| 1979 | 0 | – |
| 1978 | 15 | #4,459 |
| 1977 | 16 | #4,234 |
| 1976 | 8 | #6,609 |
Names like Kalilah
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Nusaybah, Aaliyah, Safa, Ayah, Khadija, Zainab, Sumayyah, Ruqayyah, Aaminah, Amira, Hafsa, Abeeha
Other spellings of Kalilah
Names related to Kalilah
Kaliyah, Kaila, Kalayah, Kalia, Kaliah, Kaylah, Kaleah, Khalia, Kaleia
More Arabic names
Muhammad, Layla, Mohammed, Lyla, Mohammad, Zara, Amir, Fatima, Ali, Yahya, Zayn, Aisha, Omar, Zahra, Hamza, Kairo
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Kalilah: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/kalilah, updated 20 October 2026.