Yalda

/Y-AE-L-D-AA/

Girl MuslimZoroastrian Persian origin OtherPersian

Birth — from Syriac yaldā, ‘birth,’ which entered Persian through Aramaic Christian usage and now names Shab-e Yalda, the longest night of the year, when families gather to read Hafez. A seasonal, luminous Persian feminine name.

See Yalda scored for your family

Meaning & origin

Yalda is a girl's name of Persian origin, traditionally used in Muslim families. The name means "Birth — from Syriac yaldā, ‘birth,’ which entered Persian through Aramaic Christian usage and now names Shab-e Yalda, the longest night of the year, when families gather to read Hafez. A seasonal, luminous Persian feminine name." and belongs to the Light cluster — names meaning radiance, illumination, and hope.

Beyond its Muslim heritage, Yalda is also used in Zoroastrian traditions, reflecting how this name has traveled across cultures.

Common among Other, Persian families, Yalda carries cultural weight that goes beyond its dictionary definition — it's a name with a story and a community.

Numerology of Yalda

Numerology assigns each name a single-digit destiny number by summing its letter values. Different schools use different mappings — NameRoot computes both so you can see how Yalda resonates in either tradition.

Pythagorean
7
introspection and spiritual wisdom
Chaldean
1
leadership and pioneering spirit

How Yalda sounds

NameRoot scores the phonetic fit of every name against the sound of your last name. The pronunciation of Yalda breaks down into 5 phonemes: /Y-AE-L-D-AA/. In the app, you'll see how those sounds flow with your family name across rhythm, stress, and consonant clusters.

The six signals, applied to Yalda

NameRoot scores every name across six independent dimensions. Here's how Yalda maps to each — install the app to see the full compatibility score for your specific family.

01 — Birth Star
Nakshatra match
Enter your baby's birth date in the app and we'll compute the nakshatra compatibility score.
02 — Numerology
Destiny alignment
Pythagorean and Chaldean life-path calculations (destiny 7) matched against your family's own numerology profile.
03 — Phonetics
Last-name fit
Rhythm, stress, and consonant clusters measured with IPA to see how Yalda flows with your family name.
04 — Meaning
Light
Yalda belongs to the Light cluster — names meaning radiance, illumination, and hope.
05 — Cultural & Tradition
Muslim
As a Muslim name, Yalda carries religious and cultural weight scored against your family's heritage — plus grandparent-name matches, saint's-day alignment, and generational naming patterns scored against your family tree.
06 — Uniqueness
Popularity balance
How common Yalda is today versus historically — finding the sweet spot between familiar and forgotten.

Names similar to Yalda

If Yalda resonates with you, these names live in the same world — drawn from the same tradition, sharing the same meaning, or echoing a similar sound.

From the same tradition

Other Muslim girl names, common in Other families

Fatima
She who abstains, the shining one — Fatima al-Zahra is the beloved daughter of Prophet Muhammad and the mother of his grandsons Hasan and Husayn. Revered across all branches of Islam as the foremost woman of paradise, her name carries maternal devotion, spiritual purity, and the luminous grace of one called 'the Radiant' by her own father
Maryam
The exalted one, the only woman named in the Quran — Maryam mother of Isa is honoured in an entire surah bearing her name, praised as the woman chosen above all women of all worlds. Her name bridges Islam and Christianity with shared reverence, carrying purity, miraculous grace, and the courage of a mother who bore her child alone beneath a palm tree
Layla
Night, the intoxicating darkness of a desert evening — Layla is the legendary beloved of Majnun in the greatest love story of Arabic literature, the woman whose beauty drove a poet to madness and exile. Her name carries the romance of starlit sand dunes, the mystery of dark hair against moonlight, and the ache of a love too intense for the daylit world
Yasmin
Jasmine, the night-blooming flower whose fragrance intensifies after sunset — Yasmin is the Persian gift to the world's gardens, a vine that climbs walls and releases its sweetest perfume in the darkness

Sharing the same meaning

Other Muslim girl names from the Light cluster

Noor
Divine light, the sacred illumination that pervades all creation
Zahra
Radiant, blooming, a flower in full blossom — Zahra is the luminous title of Fatima al-Zahra, the Prophet's daughter
Sana
Praise, radiance, brilliance that draws the eye — Sana is the Arabic word for praise and radiance, a name that declares a daughter as simultaneously praiseworthy and luminous.

Names that sound similar

Muslim girl names that open with the same syllables as Yalda

Yamama
The wild dove, the ringdove, from the Arabic yamama. The cooing dove is a gentle, beloved presence in Arabic poetry, an emblem of tenderness, longing and peace, so the name carries the soft grace of the dove and the plaintive sweetness of its call.
Yara
Strength, courage; beloved companion — Yara (Persian یارا 'strength' or یار 'beloved companion') carries dual classical meanings: physical strength/capacity in Pahlavi, and 'the beloved' in Persian poetry. Hafez addresses the beloved as 'yar' throughout the Diwan. A short, internationally portable name.
Yagmur
Rain, rainfall, from Turkish yağmur, a nature name whose appeal lies wholly in the image it conjures: drops drumming on a roof and the scent of the earth when rain finally falls. It belongs to a Turkish fondness for names drawn from the natural world, binding a daughter to the living landscape.

Common questions about Yalda

What does the name Yalda mean?

Yalda means "Birth — from Syriac yaldā, ‘birth,’ which entered Persian through Aramaic Christian usage and now names Shab-e Yalda, the longest night of the year, when families gather to read Hafez. A seasonal, luminous Persian feminine name.." It is a girl name of Persian origin, traditionally used in Muslim families.

Is Yalda a boy or girl name?

Yalda is most commonly used as a girl name.

What is the origin of the name Yalda?

Yalda is of Persian origin, used in Muslim, Zoroastrian traditions, commonly among Other, Persian families.

What is the numerology of Yalda?

Yalda has a Pythagorean destiny number of 7 — introspection and spiritual wisdom.

See how Yalda scores for your family

NameRoot is the only baby-name app that scores every name across 6 signals against your specific family context. Download free — Yalda is waiting.

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