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Name Biscuit

Girl name

Nala

Nala ranks #23 out of 693 girl cat names in our data (the #1 girl cat name is Luna). Across all 3 places, 63 cats carry the name. It's also a dog name: #23 among girl dog names.
Nala's popularity trend

Nala's share of cats, year by year — or toggle to its yearly rank. Peak year by share: 2019.

0.1%0.2%0.3%20122014201620182019
Cats in our data
63
across 3 places
Popularity rank
#23
of 693 girl cat names
5-year rank move
+52
2014 → 2019
Gender split
98% female
98% female2% male

Gender split comes from 201 US shelter cats — the one source in our data that records a cat's sex.

What does Nala mean?
2 syllables

Nala is best known as Simba's best friend and eventual mate in Disney's The Lion King, the courageous lioness voiced by Moira Kelly in the original film and by Beyonce in the 2019 remake. The character's Swahili-inflected setting gives the name an African sound, though Nala was created for the movie rather than drawn from a widely documented traditional source.

It's a name with real bite to it -- spirited, athletic, and unmistakably feline in feel, though it wears just as well on a dog with a big, confident personality.

Where Nala shows up

Cats named Nala per place, against that place's total.

PlaceShare
TorontoON, CA0.21%
SeattleWA, US0.15%
Surf Coast ShireVIC, AU0.38%

Cat names like Nala

Lala

Nala appears on

Disney Cat NamesBest Cat NamesFamous Cat NamesCute Girl Cat NamesUnique Girl Cat NamesGood Girl Cat Names