Xyla

I recently stumbled across the beautiful name Xyla mentioned on an old Nameberry.com thread, and it stuck with me. I love how lyrical it sounds.

People may think this is a made up name, but Xyla is actually a variant of the Old Greek name Xylia, and means 'woodland' or 'of the wooded land'.

One super cute Xyla - courtesy of
oliverbluephotography.blogspot.com.au

Like all names, there are both pros and cons to naming your daughter Xyla.

Con - immediate association with Xylophone. But if you're into music, you might not mind this.
Pro - your daughter would have a unique initial - not many girls names start with X
Con - if you ever plan on having a boy named Xavier it could be too matchy-matchy. And if you had more children and wanted to keep a "starts-with-X-pattern" you could really struggle
Pro - it's a fresh alternative to the now super trendy Isla. Isla was #18 here in Australia in 2011, which is a bit too popular for my liking. Besides, I was never a huge fan of Isla anyway, I much prefer Xyla.
Con - a quick Google tells me there is a brand of weight loss foods called Xyla, due to its use of a sweetener called Xylitol. I've never heard of it here in the merry old land of Aus, but doesn't mean it will never come here.
Pro - did I mention how pretty it is?


Xyla is a pretty but spunky name that sounds modern but has historic roots. Whether you feel that the pros outweigh the cons for this name is up to you. I'm definitely leaning towards yes.