Chawla, also spelled Chowla, is a surname of Punjabi and Sindhi Hindus and Sikhs of India. It originates from the name of a clan of the Arora caste, likely stemming from the crop word chawal, which means rice.1
Notable people
Notable people with the surname, who may or may not be affiliated with the clan/religions, include:
- Anil Kumar Chawla, Indian Navy vice admiral
- Baldev Raj Chawla (1938–2024), Indian politician
- Bhumika Chawla (born 1978), Indian actress
- Bobby Chawla (born 1982), Danish cricketer
- Devika Chawla, Indian pop singer
- Diwan Chand Chawla, Pakistani politician
- Harcharan Chawla (1926–2001), Indian Urdu writer
- Harpinder Singh Chawla (born 1950), Indian dental surgeon and medical researcher
- Himani Chawla, Indian television actress
- Himanshu Chawla (born 1991), Indian cricketer
- Isha Chawla (born 1988), Indian film actress
- Juhi Chawla (born 1967), Indian actress
- Kailash Chawla (born 1948), Indian politician
- Kalpana Chawla (1962–2003), Indian-American astronaut killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
- Karm Chawla (born 1985), Indian director and cinematographer
- Keerthi Chawla (born 1981), Indian actress
- Laxmi Kanta Chawla, Indian politician
- Louise Chawla, American professor
- Mukesh Kumar Chawla (born 1974), Pakistani politician
- Narendra Chawla (born 1961), Indian politician
- Navin Chawla (1945–2025), Indian civil servant and writer
- Neeraj Chawla (born 1979), Indian cricketer
- Nitesh Chawla, Indian American computer scientist
- Piyush Chawla (born 1988), Indian cricketer
- Prabhu Chawla (born 1946), Indian journalist and editor of India Today
- Pradeep Chawla (born 1980), Indian cricketer
- Preetika Chawla, Indian film actress
- Rajendra Chawla, Indian actor
- Ram Nath Chawla (1903–1986), Indian pilot
- Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla, Pakistani politician and the first Hindu woman elected to the Pakistan Senate
- Sarvadaman Chowla (1907–1995), Indian American mathematician
- Shuchi Chawla, US-based Indian computer scientist
- Surveen Chawla (born 1984), Indian actress
- Tarang Chawla (born 1987), Indian-born Australian activist and writer
- Varun Chawla (born 1981), Indian entrepreneur
- Yogesh Kumar Chawla, Indian medical doctor
Other uses
- Chawla (crater), a lunar crater named after Kalpana Chawla.
- Rakshata Chawla, a fictional character in the Japanese science fiction anime series Code Geass
References
References
- Hanks, Patrick; Coates, Richard; McClure, Peter, eds. (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 480. ISBN 978-0-19-967776-4.
Chawla: ... Indian (Panjab): Hindu (Arora) and Sikh name, based on the name of a clan in the Arora community, which is apparently named with čāwəl 'rice'.