Laili as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Laili

What is the meaning of the name Laili ?

The baby name Laili is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈleɪli/ (LAY-lee).

Laili is Arabic, Indonesian, Malay, Persian in Origin.

Laili is a feminine name rooted in Arabic and Persian, a regional spelling of the Layla/Leila family. It derives from Arabic layl, “night,” carrying senses of “nighttime,” “born at night,” and poetically “dark beauty” or the rapture associated with night in classical verse. In Persian it appears as لیلی, commonly transliterated Leyli/Leili, while Laili is favored in Indonesia and some South Asian and East African communities.

The name gained enduring cultural resonance through the medieval romance Leyli o Majnun by Nizami Ganjavi and later retellings, becoming a symbol of passionate, often spiritual, longing across the Persianate world. Usage spans the Middle East, Iran and Azerbaijan, North Africa, South Asia, and the Balkans, with periodic Western boosts via literature and music. Variants include Layla, Laila, Leila, Leyla, Leyli/Leili, and Lejla (Bosnian), with Somali Leylo; nicknames may be Lili or Lei. Phonetically similar Lily or Lila have different origins.