Nualla as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Nualla

What is the meaning of the name Nualla ?

The baby name Nualla is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced NOO-lah (/ˈnuːlə/).

Nualla is Irish in Origin.

Nualla is a modern respelling of Nuala, the affectionate short form of the Irish Gaelic Fionnuala (also Fionnghuala). The elements fionn “fair, white” and guala “shoulder” yield the evocative meaning “fair‑shouldered” or “white shoulders.” In the medieval legend of the Children of Lir, Fionnuala is the swan‑maiden who protects her brothers, anchoring the name in Irish myth and poetry.

Documented as Fionnghuala in medieval annals, the name survived in Anglicized forms such as Finola, Finvola, and Scots Fenella, then enjoyed a 20th‑century revival in Ireland; Nuala became familiar through cultural figures like Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Nuala O’Faolain. Nualla remains very rare and chiefly appears as an international, phonetic variant of Nuala. Related and variant forms include Fionnuala/Fionnghuala, Nuala, Finola, Finvola, Fenella, and occasionally Nola as a short form. Sometimes confused with Úna/Una, it is etymologically distinct.

⚙ Nualla barely registers. Our whole dataset turns up only 1 recorded use, across 1 country.