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Nawal as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Nawal

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The baby name Nawal is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced NAH-wahl (IPA: /naːˈwaːl/).

Nawal is Arabic in Origin.

Gender: Female
Syllables: 2.0
Origin: Arabic
Pronunciation: NAH-wahl (IPA: /naːˈwaːl/)

What is the meaning of the name Nawal ?

The baby name Nawal is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced NAH-wahl (IPA: /naːˈwaːl/).

Nawal is Arabic in Origin.

Nawal is a cross-cultural given name with two independent roots. In Arabic (نوال), it denotes "gift," "bounty," or "generosity," from the triliteral root n-w-l meaning "to bestow or attain." Widely used across North Africa and the Middle East in the modern era, it gained international visibility through figures such as Egyptian writer Nawal El Saadawi, Moroccan Olympic champion Nawal El Moutawakel, and Lebanese singer Nawal Al Zoghbi. In Arabic-speaking contexts the name is chiefly feminine.

In South Asia, Nawal also appears as a masculine or unisex name corresponding to Hindi and related Indo-Aryan languages (Devanagari नवल), from Sanskrit nava ("new"), yielding the sense "novel, wondrous." This line survives in compounds like Nawal Kishore. Common spellings and transliterations include Nawal, Naoual, Nawel, and Nawaal; French-influenced Naoual/Nawel are frequent in the Maghreb. Related meanings cluster around "gift" and "newness," giving Nawal generous and fresh connotations across languages.

Nawal has the following similar or variant Names

Famous people with the name Nawal

Nawal El Saadawi Politician · Born 1931 · Egypt Nawal El Saadawi was an Egyptian feminist writer, physician, and activist best known for her groundbreaking work on women’s rights in the Arab world. She wrote influential books including Woman at Point Zero, The Hidden Face of Eve, and Memoirs from the Women’s Prison, focusing on sexuality, patriarchy, class, and colonialism. Nawal El Moutawakel Politician · Born 1962 · Morocco Nawal El Moutawakel is best known for winning the first-ever women’s 400 metres hurdles at the 1984 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Moroccan, Arab, African, and Muslim woman to earn an Olympic gold medal. She is a former Moroccan hurdler and now serves as a vice president of the International Olympic Committee.

Nawal – Popularity by country

Based on birth registration data from national statistics agencies.

Country Gender Year Rank Born of
Ireland Girls 2012 #1 — 970
ET Girls 0 #16 1 372
MV Girls 0 #35 1 2,021
CY 0 #60 1 1,632
SD Girls 0 #66 805 7,678
JO Girls 0 #68 986 7,570
SD 0 #78 23 2,130
MV Boys 0 #79 1 3,375
SA Girls 0 #79 3,103 25,931
SI 0 #80 1 1,612
ID Girls 0 #100 3 3,319
MA 0 #100 18,949 20,986
QA 0 #100 7 7,011
IQ 0 #104 26 3,533
KW 0 #104 13 5,216
JO 0 #106 32 2,158
OM 0 #106 11 6,215
GE Girls 0 #108 1 1,564
BN Girls 0 #112 3 5,459
LB 0 #117 1,453 13,263
IQ Girls 0 #120 718 11,303
CY Girls 0 #122 4 3,755
KW Girls 0 #123 540 19,177
ID Boys 0 #135 1 4,130
BN Boys 0 #139 1 6,332
OM Girls 0 #141 286 15,987
AE 0 #146 32 10,220
EG Girls 0 #150 4,498 14,742
MT Girls 0 #153 1 3,773
AE Girls 0 #156 502 20,968
SY 0 #178 1,468 11,684
YE 0 #179 255 8,639
SA 0 #180 116 10,560
Sweden Girls 2021 #181 3 1,666
LY 0 #185 537 12,703
QA Girls 0 #186 132 15,378
LU Girls 0 #189 2 4,850
Belgium Girls 2003 #196 20 407
PS Girls 0 #196 511 10,981
PS 0 #203 16 5,692
DK 0 #204 3 5,198
HU Girls 0 #225 1 3,308
BG Girls 0 #231 1 3,559
MO Boys 0 #233 2 5,842
GH 0 #248 1 5,396
GR Girls 0 #248 2 6,293
JP Girls 0 #251 1 6,592
IL 0 #259 16 6,291
MO Girls 0 #263 1 7,056
IL Girls 0 #267 488 11,648
Canada Girls 2024 #269 17 2,795
DK Girls 0 #269 48 7,429
NG 0 #272 1 5,926
DZ 0 #273 2,473 20,130
GR Boys 0 #273 1 6,912
SG 0 #281 2 11,010
TW Girls 0 #286 4 8,139
EG 0 #292 114 6,387
JP Boys 0 #303 1 7,909
MY 0 #307 24 12,352
PE 0 #329 1 6,350
GH Girls 0 #335 3 6,973
BH 0 #339 217 17,937
JO Boys 0 #350 28 7,057
CN Girls 0 #359 1 8,829
MU Girls 0 #362 1 8,539
PL Girls 0 #364 1 5,096
MU Boys 0 #369 1 8,477
BD Girls 0 #376 11 8,413
Finland Girls 0 #377 15 1,368
PT Boys 0 #381 1 7,951
France Boys 2021 #383 5 2,865
France Girls 2021 #398 8 3,185
Austria Girls 0 #409 12 1,885
SD Boys 0 #418 28 10,523
PH Girls 0 #426 4 13,098
Spain 0 #435 18 2,326
PT Girls 0 #469 3 7,952
PA Girls 0 #515 4 9,861
IR Girls 0 #520 11 8,334
RU Girls 0 #523 1 11,913
CM Girls 0 #525 16 11,671
PS Boys 0 #537 12 10,655
IR Boys 0 #565 1 10,162
CM Boys 0 #572 4 12,054
CR Girls 0 #572 2 11,342
TN 0 #586 264 13,765
IL Boys 0 #598 10 10,983
BD Boys 0 #603 3 10,045
SG Girls 0 #624 9 18,916
Spain Girls 0 #634 377 5,561
IQ Boys 0 #635 33 13,071
QA Boys 0 #637 71 18,093
HK Girls 0 #648 3 16,104
IN Girls 0 #648 7 13,121
Finland Girls 2026 #685 54 3,895
IT 0 #700 15 4,183
KW Boys 0 #736 34 18,755
SG Boys 0 #737 3 17,960
NL Girls 0 #747 210 5,933
Germany Girls 0 #771 68 4,949
NG Girls 0 #774 13 15,093
EG Boys 0 #787 100 15,035
MY Girls 0 #812 183 24,821
IN Boys 0 #814 189 16,750
OM Boys 0 #850 32 17,948
United States Girls 2024 #874 43 8,487
IT Girls 0 #911 598 9,415
CL Girls 0 #915 1 14,098
Spain Boys 0 #920 11 5,610
NL Boys 0 #942 10 5,873
NG Boys 0 #1,000 2 16,906
AE Boys 0 #1,036 57 22,615
CO Girls 0 #1,061 18 16,140
MY Boys 0 #1,079 33 25,439
TR 0 #1,108 104 19,440
ZA Girls 0 #1,128 14 25,928
ZA Boys 0 #1,271 2 25,619
SA Boys 0 #1,362 253 28,008
IT Boys 0 #1,453 19 10,046

Nawal is popular in 68 countries — most recent births per country:

France
Canada
United States
Sweden
Brussels, Belgium

Did we miss something about this name? Let us know!

People also ask about Nawal

Nawal is predominantly a girl's name.
Nawal is a 2 syllable name, pronounced NAH-wahl (IPA: /naːˈwaːl/).
Common nicknames and spelling variations include Nawāl, Nawel, Naawal and نوال.
Across languages, Nawal has these equivalents: Hiba (Arabic, 'gift'), Dorothy/Dorothea (Greek, 'gift of God'), Donata/Donatella/Donato (Latin, 'given'), Shai (Hebrew, 'gift'), Matthew/Matthea (Hebrew, 'gift of God').
Yes, very popular — Nawal ranked #1 in Ireland in 2012, and appears in official birth registries across 7 countries.
Nawal ranks highest in Ireland (#1 in 2012).
Nawal's popularity is declining. It moved from #389 in 2011 to #398 in 2021 in France.
Yes — 2 notable people named Nawal are in our database, including Nawal El Saadawi (Politician), Nawal El Moutawakel (Politician).