"
Twila" is an alternate spelling of the name
Twyla, which is in this site's database. (click on blue hyperlink). The form of "
Twyla" is perhaps the best known, due to having been made popular by the choreographer
Twyla Tharp.
Of uncertain origin, it may have been H.L. Mencken who suggested that this name -- first used among Black American families in the Southern United States -- was an invention using the word "twilight" for a child born at sundown.
Others have suggested that the name springs from the French word "etoile", meaning "star"; while still others suggest that the name may have come from the word "twill" (a kind of fabric).
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Nanaea