Given name & surname
Erla
“a playful young woman”
Erla is used as a given name and a surname. One Irish interpretation is “a playful young woman.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Irish interpretation is “a playful young woman.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Irish.
How it developed
In Icelandic usage, Erla is a feminine form of ERLENDUR.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1889. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Erla through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 934
- 0 boys · 934 girls
- Most popular year
- 1924
- 35 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 7 in 2022. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 35 in 1924. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 660 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Erla’s family of names
In Icelandic usage, Erla is a feminine form of ERLENDUR. Erla has a related form in Erlah.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Erla
- Erla ÁsgeirsdóttirIcelandic alpine skierborn 1994
- Erla Steina ArnardóttirIcelandic footballerborn 1983
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Erla, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“one who has a fair complexion” · “a bright man”
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Aline
“one who pays homage to Ireland”
>99% girls
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“of the shining sea”
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Gladys
“one who is lame”
>99% girls