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This is a note I recently shared on Facebook and since al-hamdulillahi it was beneficial to my friends,
I thought to share it here too 
I'm seeing a lot of confusion regarding the night prayers; what they are, how many rak'ah do they have and so on.
Since Ramadan is the month where almost all of us attempt to devote our nights to worship, this is a small note which I hope will insha allah clear some of the doubts about the night prayer.
I ask Allah to make this effort completely for Him, and to make it beneficial to myself and to His servants.
Qiyam means "standing"; and Qiyam ul-layl means "standing at night".
In the shar' context, both terms refer to the same thing, namely, the voluntary night prayer whose time extends from after 'Isha prayer until dawn. It is described as "standing" because it involves long standing in which long portions of the Qur'an are recited.
Other common names for it are: Salat ul-layl (the night prayer), Tahajjud (remaining awake at night after sleeping a portion), Witr (odd-numbered), and Taraweeh (resting) etc..
Witr in particular has two different meanings in the Sunnah. It usually refers to the last one or three rak'ah of Qiyam. But it sometimes means all of the night prayers because, collectively, they are odd numbered.
Some people think that Tahajjud is a night prayer different from Qiyam or Taraweeh. Others think nafl (voluntary) prayers at night are only recommedned during Ramadan. So it is important to clarify:
There is only ONE nafl (voluntary) prayer at night and different names are used to describe it.
Even though Taraweeh is most commonly used to describe it in Ramadan, this does NOT make it a different prayer.
Since Ramadan is the month where almost all of us attempt to devote our nights to worship, this is a small note which I hope will insha allah clear some of the doubts about the night prayer.
I ask Allah to make this effort completely for Him, and to make it beneficial to myself and to His servants.
***
So here's the thing:Qiyam means "standing"; and Qiyam ul-layl means "standing at night".
In the shar' context, both terms refer to the same thing, namely, the voluntary night prayer whose time extends from after 'Isha prayer until dawn. It is described as "standing" because it involves long standing in which long portions of the Qur'an are recited.
Other common names for it are: Salat ul-layl (the night prayer), Tahajjud (remaining awake at night after sleeping a portion), Witr (odd-numbered), and Taraweeh (resting) etc..
Witr in particular has two different meanings in the Sunnah. It usually refers to the last one or three rak'ah of Qiyam. But it sometimes means all of the night prayers because, collectively, they are odd numbered.
Some people think that Tahajjud is a night prayer different from Qiyam or Taraweeh. Others think nafl (voluntary) prayers at night are only recommedned during Ramadan. So it is important to clarify:
There is only ONE nafl (voluntary) prayer at night and different names are used to describe it.
Even though Taraweeh is most commonly used to describe it in Ramadan, this does NOT make it a different prayer.
***
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم consistently performed Qiyam (optional night prayer) through out the year because Allah سبحانه و تعالى says:وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ عَسَىٰ أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَّحْمُودًا
“And in some parts of the night (also) offer the Salah with it (i.e. recite the Qur’an in the prayer) as an additional prayer for you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم).
It may be that your Lord will raise you to Maqam Mahmud (a station of praise and glory i.e. the honor of intercession on the Day of Resurrection)"
[Surah al-Isra’ 17:79]
In 2 AH, when fasting became obligatory, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم performed Qiyam on his own in the masjid. Some of the Sahabah joined him, then more joined him the next night and more the night after and so on.When it became popular, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم stopped leading the people in Qiyam for fear that night prayer in Ramadan would then become obligatory and the people would not be able to do it.
After the death of the Prophe صلى الله عليه وسلم, people prayed Qiyam in the Masjid in separate groups, behind various Imams.
During the caliphate of Umar bin Al-Khattab رضي الله عنه , he gathered the people behind one Imamand revived the Sunnah of praying Qiyam-ul-layl in congregation during Ramadan.
And from since then, Muslims have continued to perform Qiyam during Ramadan in congregation, naming it Taraweeh.
Taraweeh, got its name from tarweehah, which means the space of rest between every two rak’ah.
Usually in mosques, they give a short break after praying 2 sets of 2 rak'ah (after praying 4 rak'ah) because people tend to get tired due to the long standing. So you pray 2 prayers, take a break, and then continue again. So because of this rest, the name Taraweeh is used.
To conclude, the night prayer is ONE prayer, not a bunch of different prayers.
***
As for the number of rak'ah:
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم NEVER prayed more than ELEVEN rak'ah during night prayer.
EIGHT rak'ah of Qiyam and THREE rak'ah of Witr.
But he also never exactly specified a limit.
*There is a difference of opinion among the scholars on this issue about allowing the number of rak'ah to exceed eleven since a limit was not specified. This is why we have some mosques praying twenty, others eight etc..
But it is better and closer to the Sunnah to pray as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم prayed and stick to eight rak'ah of Qiyam and three rak'ah of Witr.
And Allah knows best.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم NEVER prayed more than ELEVEN rak'ah during night prayer.
EIGHT rak'ah of Qiyam and THREE rak'ah of Witr.
But he also never exactly specified a limit.
*There is a difference of opinion among the scholars on this issue about allowing the number of rak'ah to exceed eleven since a limit was not specified. This is why we have some mosques praying twenty, others eight etc..
But it is better and closer to the Sunnah to pray as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم prayed and stick to eight rak'ah of Qiyam and three rak'ah of Witr.
And Allah knows best.