Nawab
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- na-WAAB
- Origin
- Arabic
- UK rank, 2025
- #916 for boys
- US rank, 2025
- #4,395 for boys
Nawab is a boys' name of Arabic origin, meaning “deputy, governor”. In 2025 it ranked 916th for boys in the UK (37 babies) and 4,395th for boys in the US (23 babies).
What does Nawab mean?
Arabic: via the Urdu title nawab, from Arabic naib, deputy
“deputy, governor”
From nawab, the title of Mughal provincial governors and princes, which also gave English the word 'nabob'.
Is Nawab a girl's or a boy's name?
Nawab is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 37 boys in the UK and 23 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Nawab in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- #916among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 37about 1 in 8,100 boys
- Five-year trend
- Newly popularnew in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 37 boys in the UK were named Nawab, making it the 916th most popular name for boys.
It has been given to more boys each year for the last 3 years. 2025 had the most boys named Nawab of any year since it first appeared, in 2012.
Half of all the boys named Nawab in the UK since 1996 were born between 2024 and 2025, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 40 boys in the UK were given Nawab or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #781, up from #916 for this spelling alone.
- Nawab 37
- Nawaab 3
Among boys in 2025, it was 856th in England and Wales.
Nawab in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 37 | #916 |
| 2024 | 30 | #1,064 |
| 2023 | 8 | #2,691 |
| 2022 | 0 | – |
| 2021 | 3 | #4,989 |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 3 | #4,959 |
| 2017 | 3 | #4,995 |
| 2016 | 0 | – |
| 2015 | 0 | – |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 0 | – |
| 2012 | 3 | #4,999 |
How popular is Nawab in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #4,395among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 23about 1 in 74,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to calltoo few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 23 boys in the US were named Nawab, making it the 4,395th most popular name for boys. It first appears in the records in 2022.
Half of all the boys named Nawab in the US since 1880 were born between 2023 and 2025, the years shaded on the chart below.
Nawab in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 23 | #4,395 |
| 2024 | 12 | #6,827 |
| 2023 | 7 | #9,757 |
| 2022 | 11 | #7,256 |
Names like Nawab
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Muhammad Musab Umar Amir Hamza Zayd Musa Zayaan Rabab Mustafa Ahmed Khalid
Other spellings of Nawab
Nawaab
More Arabic names
Layla Mohammed Lyla Mohammad Zara Aaliyah Amira Fatima Ali Yahya Zayn Aisha Omar Zahra Kairo Safa
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Nawab: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/nawab, updated 20 October 2026.