A new favorite of mine.
What are your thoughts on Nala?
Any pros and cons?
Is Nahla better?
Sources often say it means “gift” but I couldn’t confirm this meaning with any legit source. Does anyone know where it really comes from?
[name_f]Nala[/name_f] has a pretty and fresh sound, but be prepared for [name_f]Disney[/name_f] references. [name_f]Nahla[/name_f] looks nice to me
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I’ve always liked [name_f]Nala[/name_f] and have had it under favorite N names for girls. It’s simple and sweet and pretty user-friendly in that it makes sense in spelling and pronunciation, but leans uncommon and unexpected.
I like [name_f]Nala[/name_f] a bit more than [name_f]Nahla[/name_f] just because [name_f]Nahla[/name_f] would likely have to be spelled out more often but I still don’t think [name_f]Nahla[/name_f] is too hard to manage. As a society, I feel we’ve become increasingly better at accomodating and accepting spelling variations.
I suppose a con would be its association with The [name_m]Lion[/name_m] [name_m]King[/name_m] but that might be only apparent to millennial parents right away. I think a child would appreciate sharing a name with such a desirable character.
I think you could find multiple meanings in different languages for [name_f]Nala[/name_f]. Hebrew names that have a -Nat (Nathan, etc.) mean gift so it would make sense that this might be shared across languages and cultures. I think it’s excellent choice as a cross-cultural name as well.
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I love [name_f]Nala[/name_f]. I prefer the [name_f]Nahla[/name_f] spelling. It used to be on my list years ago. The only con I can think of is the [name_m]Lion[/name_m] [name_m]King[/name_m] association, but I don’t even think that’s a bad thing depending on how you feel about the movie!
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I usually trust Behind the Name as my source for etymology, and according to their research, while some sources claim the meaning to be “gift” or “beloved” in Swahili, it doesn’t appear to mean either of those (it doesn’t appear to have any meaning in Swahili).
[name_f]Nahla[/name_f] is Arabic, and means “a drink of water”. I found this meaning for the name almost a decade ago when it was on my list, so I would trust it a bit more, even though the entry on the site was submitted by a user.
There’s also a masculine version from Hinduism that means “stem” in Sanskrit.
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I prefer [name_f]Nala[/name_f] to [name_f]Nahla[/name_f]. I think that, while there may be [name_f]Disney[/name_f] references, it is very different than naming someone [name_f]Maleficent[/name_f] or [name_m]Gaston[/name_m]. [name_f]Nala[/name_f] is a good, lovable character. I feel that with [name_f]Nahla[/name_f] you are ultimately making it harder, since it is unnecessary to the pronunciation or anything like that. [name_f]Nala[/name_f] has my vote!
I found that [name_f]Nala[/name_f] (or Nahla) have many different meanings!
(There also is a masculine form meaning first drink of water.)
Sanskrit— hollow reed, stem
Swahili— queen, lion, and gift
Arabic— bee
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[name_f]Nahla[/name_f] looks more complete to me… Can’t explain why exactly! Both are pretty tho
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As mentioned above I would choose [name_f]Nahla[/name_f] because it has a more trustworthy etymology…I don’t like it when the meanings are not verified and you don’t know what the real original meaning is and therefore what you’re potentially speaking over a child.
I personally think disney is a positive association not a negative one so 
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