Girl Names That Start With L, Popular and Rare Picks

ByNamelyra Editorial Team

Currently popular L names for girls

  • Luna (Latin, meaning the moon, tied to the Roman moon goddess, currently one of the most popular girls’ names in the US)
  • Layla (Arabic, meaning night)
  • Lily (English, from the flower)
  • Lillian (English, an elaborated form of Lily)
  • Leah (Hebrew, commonly read as meaning weary, though usage today rarely carries that literal weight)
  • Lydia (Greek, referring to a region in ancient Anatolia)
  • Lucy (Latin, meaning light)

A theme worth knowing: names that mean “light”

An unusually large share of L names trace back to words for light, which makes this letter useful if you are meaning shopping rather than letter shopping:

  • Luna (Latin, moonlight)
  • Lucia / Lucy (Latin, light)
  • Liora (Hebrew, meaning my light)
  • Leora (Hebrew, meaning light)
  • Laoise (Irish, meaning light, pronounced roughly LEE-sha)
  • Luzia (Portuguese, meaning light)

Rare and less common L names for girls

  • Larkin (Irish, commonly read as meaning fierce)
  • Linnea (Swedish, a flower name)
  • Lenore (a literary name associated with Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven”)
  • Leilani (Hawaiian, meaning heavenly flower)

Quick facts
Common origins Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, Irish
Common meaning theme light, more strongly represented in L names than in most letters
Common nickname pattern shortened to Lu, Lily, Lee

Frequently asked questions

What is the most popular girl’s name starting with L?

Luna is currently one of the most popular L names for girls in the US, ranking in the national top 10 in recent Social Security Administration data.

Why do so many L names mean light?

It is largely coincidental across languages, Latin (lux/lucia), Hebrew (or/leora), and Irish (solas/laoise) each independently developed light-related words that happen to start with L, rather than one shared root.

How do you pronounce Laoise?

It is pronounced roughly LEE-sha, which surprises most English speakers seeing the spelling for the first time.

Related reading

Boy equivalent: boy names starting with L (in progress). Mixed overview: baby names starting with L (in progress). Names organized by meaning instead of letter: names that mean light.