Nala - Baby Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity for a Girl

About Nala

A Disney name—Nala was the friend who became the wife of Simba, hero of The Lion King. It debuted on the US Top 1000 in 2015.

Keenen Ivory Wayans used it for his daughter.

As of October 2026, Nala ranked #856 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #679 in 2019.

Editor's take: The name Nala is a girl's name of African origin.

US popularity — history

US rank, lower is more popular · SSA data 2014–2025

Actual · SSA

20142025

18802025

Data table

Year	US rank	Births	Per million
2014	#994	267	149.5
2015	#950	286	160.2
2016	#781	364	205.4
2017	#766	362	209.7
2018	#743	373	219.3
2019	#679	428	255
2020	#695	406	251.2
2021	#742	384	234
2022	#803	351	214
2023	#846	319	198.8
2024	#752	374	230.8
2025	#856	317	197.2

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