Nawab

Meaning & origin

No verified etymology recorded for this name yet — the entries below are drawn from usage statistics and the name graph.

Attested across 8 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Nawab is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate name72K records spelled Nawab2 spellings in the group

  Also written Nawāb

• a separate name449 records spelled Nawab3 spellings in the group

  Also written Ñâwâb

• a separate name331 records spelled Nawab3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Pakistan, Finland, United Arab Emirates

  Also written Ñåwåb, Ñâwåb

46 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Nawab is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Arabic, ruler, administrator. A title assumed by the independent rulers in the Indian sub-continent (see e.g. Siraj ud-Dawla). An honorific title awarded by the British rulers in India (see e.g. Abdul Latif). Nawabzada: son of a Nawab, e.g. Nawabzada Liaqat Ali Khan (see Liaqat)

  as a name·A Dictionary of Muslim Names

• In English, A Muslim official in South Asia acting as a provincial deputy ruler under the Mughal empire; a local governor.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 95 years between 1899–2015. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Mudhafar Al-Nawabb. 1934IQIraqi poet

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 236 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Nawab?

We estimate roughly 18 people bear Nawab (counting its spellings and scripts) across 4 countries in our records.

In which country does Nawab have the most bearers?

Nawab is most frequently recorded in Pakistan, where it is most often spelled nawab.