Lawal

Syllable breakdown

Name meaning and origin

Origin

Hausa (Nigeria/Niger)

Meaning

a Hausa masculine name from the Arabic al-Awwal meaning the first or the one who comes before — Al-Awwal being one of the 99 Names of Allah meaning the Eternal First who precedes all existence; the name may be given to a first son or to a son born at a particularly auspicious moment, connecting the child to the divine attribute of primacy and to the quality of leadership that naturally attaches to the first; in Hausa society, where birth order carries significant social implications and the first son traditionally inherits particular responsibilities toward the family and lineage, a name meaning the first carries social as well as spiritual resonance; Lawal is widely used across the Hausa-speaking communities of northern Nigeria and is a commonly encountered surname as well as a given name

Gender

male

Also spelled

Lawal