Isla
A feminine name derived from Spanish and Latin meaning "island".
Roughly 50,946 people in the United States go by the first name Isla, which ranks #35 nationally when sorted by estimated living bearers. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Isla today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isla births was 2021 (5,540 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Janelle (50,884).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isla. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Isla with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Isla is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
51K
~ 1 in 6,728 Americans
Peak year
2021
5,540 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2023 SSA rank
#35
Tracked since 1886
Census
Isla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 24,784 people with the first name Isla, which placed it at #1,401 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,401
National first-name rank
People counted
25K
24,784 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isla is White at 74.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Isla described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Isla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.4% · 18,440
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 3,216
- Two or more races8.6% · 2,142
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 547
- Black or African American1.5% · 365
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 74
Gender
Gender distribution for Isla
Out of the 52,229 babies given the name Isla since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Isla as a male name
- Ranked #11,367 in 2023
- 6 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2020 (6 births)
Isla as a female name
- Ranked #35 in 2024
- 5,367 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (5,540 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isla appears almost entirely female. Of the 24,788 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Isla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Isla from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 26,163 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Isla by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Isla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Islas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Isla, while Wyoming, Delaware, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 992 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Isla
The name Isla is a feminine given name of Spanish origin, derived from the Spanish word "isla" meaning "island." It is believed to have its roots in the Latin word "insula," which also translates to "island."
The name Isla gained popularity in the English-speaking world during the late 20th century, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its rise in popularity coincided with the increasing trend of naming children after geographical features or places.
Historically, the name Isla has been used in various Spanish-speaking regions, particularly in Spain and Latin America. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Isla can be found in the "Libro de los linajes de España" (Book of Lineages of Spain), a medieval genealogical text from the 13th century, which mentions several individuals with the name.
In the realm of literature, the name Isla appears in the famous Spanish novel "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes, published in the early 17th century. The character Isla is mentioned as a resident of a village encountered by the protagonist.
Notable historical figures who bore the name Isla include Isla Belyaeva (1917-1999), a Russian writer and educator known for her works on children's literature. Another prominent individual was Isla Caton (1889-1976), an American artist and illustrator who was part of the Arts and Crafts movement.
Isla Mackintosh (1888-1953) was a Scottish politician and feminist activist who played a significant role in the women's suffrage movement in the early 20th century. Isla Cameron (1925-2021) was a renowned Scottish actress and singer who had a prolific career in theater, television, and film.
Isla Binnie (1892-1963) was a pioneering Australian aviator who became the first woman to fly solo across the Australian mainland in 1932, paving the way for female pilots in the country.
While the name Isla has been present throughout history, its usage as a given name has experienced a surge in popularity in recent decades, particularly in English-speaking countries, where it is often chosen for its unique and refreshing sound, as well as its connection to the natural world and a sense of adventure and exploration.
People
Isla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isla as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Isla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 50,946 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isla going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 6,728 US residents.
Is Isla a common name?
We classify Isla as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 52,229 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isla most popular?
The single biggest year for Isla was 2021, when 5,540 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isla is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Isla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 24,784 people with the name Isla, or 8.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,401 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Isla in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Isla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isla appears almost entirely female. Of the 24,788 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Isla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isla is White at 74.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Isla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Isla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.4% (18,440 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Isla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Isla in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Isla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isla in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Isla can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Isla?
Want to know how many Americans are named Isla? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.