Nala

What Nala means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Nala yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Up from #949 in 2015 to #856 in 2025 in the US Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Nala?

US: Steady: #949 in 2015, #856 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #775 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2019, when 428 girls got the name (#675 that year). First in the US records in 1979.

How common

• About 1 in 5,070 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,838 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NV (0.54 per 1,000 girls), AL (0.44 per 1,000 girls), GA (0.42 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Nala is #856 in the US and #590 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Nala were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Nyla1,315 US · 220 E&W
• Nylah590 US · 108 E&W
• Nola331 US · 165 E&W
• Nayla225 US · 44 E&W
• Nila116 US · 64 E&W
• Naila118 US · 56 E&W
• Nailah110 US · 38 E&W
• Nella60 US · 45 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Nala

Girls

• Kennedy#85“head + ugly”^*
• Aliyah#263“ascent”^*
• Aaliyah#101Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1976, with 18 babies
• Journee#258Editor’s note 1,198 US babies in 2025, but under 3 in England & Wales
• Emerson#122Editor’s note Used for both: 62% of US babies named Emerson in 2025 were girls
• Haven#190Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #190 vs #1,512 in 2025

For a brother

• Lane#250Editor’s note Up from #297 in 2015 to #250 in 2025 in the US
• Jonah#128“dove”^*
• Wyatt#38“war + hard, brave”^*
• Griffin#222Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #222 vs #1,035 in 2025
• Elijah#7“Yahweh is my god”^*
• Noah#2Editor’s note Steady in the US: #1 in 2015 and #2 in 2025. About 1 in 84 US boys in the 2025 records

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Nala’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.