Isla ( ) is a
feminine given name traditionally of primarily
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
usage, derived from "
Islay", which is the
name of an island off the west coast of
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
. It is also the name of two Scottish rivers. The root word has no known origin.
The name has increased in popularity in recent years in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national id ...
-speaking countries.
The name in its original form was ''Ilay'' or ''Islay'' (e.g.
Ilay Campbell
Sir Ilay Campbell, 1st Baronet, Lord Succoth, (1734–1823) was a Scottish advocate, judge and politician.
He rose to be Lord President of the Court of Session.
Life
Campbell's birthplace is given as either Argyll or Edinburgh. His mother was ...
), and it was a
masculine given name, and was rare among women. Today Isla is regarded as a distinctly female name and Islay a rare male name. Other forms of the girls' name derived from alternate historical spellings of the Scottish island's name include
Ile
Ile may refer to:
* iLe, a Puerto Rican singer
* Ile District (disambiguation), multiple places
* Ilé-Ifẹ̀, an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria
* Interlingue (ISO 639:ile), a planned language
* Isoleucine, an amino acid
* Another ...
and
Ila.
Notable people with the given name include:
*
Isla Blair
Isla Blair Glover (born 29 September 1944) is a British actress and singer. She made her first stage appearance in 1963 as Philia in the London debut of ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum''.
Early life and education
Isla Blair wa ...
(born 1944), British actress
*
Isla Cameron
Isla Cameron (5 March 1927 – 3 April 1980) was a Scottish-born, English-raised actress and singer. AllMusic noted that "Cameron was one of a quartet of key figures in England's postwar folk song revival – and to give a measure of her importan ...
(c. 1930–1980), Scottish actress and singer
*
Isla Dewar (1946–2021), Scottish novelist and screenwriter
*
Isla Fisher
Isla Lang Fisher (; born 3 February 1976) is an Australian actress and author. Born to Scottish parents in Oman, she moved to Australia at age six where she began appearing in television commercials. Fisher came to prominence for her portrayal ...
(born 1976), Australian actress
*
Ila Loetscher
Ila Fox Loetscher (30 October 1904 – January 4, 2000), also known as the "Turtle Lady", was an American female aviation pioneer and noted advocate for the care and preservation of sea turtles.
Early life and aviation
Ila Marie Fox was born ...
, early-twentieth century women's aviation pioneer and explorer
*
Isla Phillips (born 2012), granddaughter of
Anne, Princess Royal
Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of Kin ...
and great-granddaughter of Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
*
Isla St Clair
Isla St Clair (born 2 May 1952 as Isabella Margaret Dyce) is a Scottish singer.
Life
Isla St Clair was born in Grangemouth, central Scotland, in 1952; her mother was Zetta Sinclair. Her family came from northeast Scotland and it was here that ...
(born 1952), Scottish actress and singer
*
Isla Traquair
Isla Traquair (born 1 January 1980) is a Scottish television host, producer and journalist. She has worked with STV, Channel 5, and ITN. She is currently based between the UK and North America where she is the host of the TV show ''Buy.o.logic ...
(born 1980), Scottish broadcast journalist
References
{{Given name
English feminine given names
Scottish feminine given names