Nalu is a boys' name of Hawaiian origin, meaning “wave, surf”, Hawaiian word. The Hawaiian word for a wave or the surf; it can also mean to ponder.

Nalu

Gender: Boy
Say it: NAH-loo
Origin: Hawaiian
US rank, 2025: #5,606 for boys

Nalu is a boys' name of Hawaiian origin, meaning “wave, surf”. In 2025 it ranked 5,606th for boys in the US (16 babies).

What does Nalu mean?

Hawaiian: Hawaiian word

“wave, surf”

The Hawaiian word for a wave or the surf; it can also mean to ponder.

Is Nalu a girl's or a boy's name?

Nalu is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 7 girls and 16 boys in the US.

How popular is Nalu in the US?

Rank in 2025: 5,606th among boys
Babies in 2025: 16 about 1 in 110,000 boys
Five-year trend: Too rare to call too few babies to tell
Same name in a class: under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 16 boys in the US were named Nalu, making it the 5,606th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 7,029th. It first appears in the records in 2001. 7 girls were also named Nalu in 2025 (11,928th for girls).

2025 had the most boys named Nalu of any year since it first appeared, in 2001.

Half of all the boys named Nalu in the US since 1880 were born between 2011 and 2022, the years shaded on the chart below.

2001Busiest: 16 in 20252025

Nalu in the US, year by year

Year	Boys	Rank
2025	16	#5,606
2024	11	#7,252
2023	12	#6,892
2022	14	#6,141
2021	13	#6,330
2020	11	#7,029
2019	9	#8,209
2018	10	#7,613
2017	5	#12,241
2016	11	#7,152
2015	0	–
2014	5	#12,102
2013	8	#8,784
2012	5	#12,267
2011	7	#9,593
2010	9	#8,133
2009	8	#8,980
2008	6	#11,030
2007	0	–
2006	7	#9,579
2005	6	#10,144
2004	0	–
2003	0	–
2002	0	–
2001	5	#10,548