Entry № 5810 · Sanskrit origin

Leela Leela — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ LEE-lah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Sanskrit
Meaning
"Divine play"
Syllables
2
First recorded
Ancient (Sanskrit)

A name that means "divine play".

Leela is from the Sanskrit līlā (लीला — divine play, divine sport, cosmic play). 5th-2nd century BCE), the Bhagavata Purana (c. 800-1000 CE), and broader Hindu spiritual literature; the iconic Ram Lila (the annual reenactment of the Ramayana) is one of the most-celebrated Indian dramatic traditions — inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list (2008). Princess Leela — Hindu heritage naming.

and divine play philosophy.

Divine play (Sanskrit).

The name in its native script.

लीला
Transliteration
Līlā
Pronunciation
/ ˈliː.lə /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Leela stands.

Leela does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Leelas before her.

Real people
Leela Naidu
Iconic Indian actress + Vogue Top 10 beauty 1954.
1940 – 2009
Leela Samson
Indian Bharatanatyam dancer + Padma Shri 1990.
born 1951
In fiction
Leela (Futurama)
Iconic American animated series.
1999

Names connected to Leela.

The number behind Leela.

8

The Visionary

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Leela reduce to 8, The Visionary. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.