Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both.
In many Slavic languages, names similar to Nadia mean "hope": Ukrainian Nadiya (Надія, accent on the i), Czech Naďa, Belarusian Nadzieja (Надзея, accent on the e), and Old Polish Nadzieja, all of which are derived from Proto-Slavic *naděja, the first three from Old East Slavic. In Bulgarian and Russian, on the other hand, Nadia or Nadya (Надя, accent on first syllable) is the diminutive form of the full name Nadezhda (Надежда), meaning "hope" and derived from Old Church Slavonic, which it entered as a translation of the Greek word ἐλπίς (Elpis), with the same meaning; in those languages, Nadia often is used as a full name in its own right.
In Arabic, the name is Nadiyyah, meaning "tender" and "delicate".
Contents
People
Academics and scientists
Nadia Abu El Haj (born 1962), assistant professor at Barnard College
Nadia E. Brown, American political scientist
Nadia Chaudhri (1978–2021), Canadian psychologist
Nadia Makram Ebeid, Egyptian academic
Nadia Fröbisch (born 1976), German vertebrae paleontologist and developmental biologist
Nadia Ghazzali (born 1961), Moroccan-Canadian statistician and university administrator
Nadia Hohn, Canadian educator and author
Nadia Yala Kisukidi (born 1978), French philosopher, writer and academic
Nadia Lapusta, professor of mechanical engineering and geophysics
Nadia Maftouni (born 1966), Iranian philosopher and artist
Nadia Nurhussein (born 1974), American academic
Nadia Pinardi (born 1956), Italian oceanographer
Nadia Robotti, Italian historian of physics
Nadia Rosenthal (born 1953), heart development-related researcher
Nadia Magnenat Thalmann (born 1946), computer graphics scientist
Nadia Waloff (1909–2001), English entomologist
Actresses, entertainers and models
Nadia Aboulhosn (born 1988), American fashion blogger, model and designer
Nadia Afgan (born 1970), Pakistani actress and comedian
Nadia Ahmed (born 1982), Bangladeshi actress and dancer
Nadia Al-Gindi (born 1946), Egyptian actress and producer
Nadia Al-Iraqia (1963–2021), Iraqi actress
Nadia Alexander (born 1994), American actress
Nadia Ali, Pakistani American former pornographic actress
Nadia Almada (born 1977), Portuguese-born British television personality
Nadia Barentin (1936–2011), French actress
Nadia Ben Rachid (born 1962), French-Tunisian film editor
Nadia Bjorlin (born 1980), American actress
Nadia Buari (born 1982), Ghanaian actress
Nadia Cassini (1949–2025), American actress
Nadia Cattouse (born 1924), British actress, singer and songwriter
Nadia Chambers (born 1968), Welsh actress
Nadia Dajani (born 1965), American actress
Nadia de Santiago (born 1990), Spanish actress
Artists
Nadia Benbouta (born 1970), Algerian artist
Nadia Benois (1896–1975), Russian-British painter
Nadia Chomyn (1967–2015), British autistic artist
Nadia Granados (born 1978), Colombian performance artist
Nadia Hebson, British artist
Nadia Huggins (born 1984), Trinidadian photographer
Nadia Kaabi-Linke (born 1978), Tunisian artist
Nadia Lee Cohen (born 1992), British artist, photographer and filmmaker
Nadia Khodasevich Léger (1904–1982), French painter
Nadia Lichtig (born 1973), German visual artist
Nadia Myre, Canadian artist
Nadia Plesner, Danish/Dutch painter
Nadia Sirry (born 1958), Egyptian artist
Nadia Stacey, British make-up artist
Athletes
Nadia Abdalá (born 1988), Mexican professional tennis player
Nadia Akpana Assa (born 1995), Norwegian long jumper
Nadia Al-Hindi (born 1972), Jordanian table tennis player
Nadia Assaf (born 1985), Lebanese football manager and former football and futsal player
Nadia Báez (born 1989), Argentine Paralympic swimmer
Nadia Battocletti (born 2000), Italian long-distance runner
Nadia Belakhdar (born 1991), Algerian handball player
Nadia Ben Azizi (born 2002), Tunisian fencer
Nádia Bento de Lima (born 1966), Brazilian basketball player
Nadia von Bertouch (born 1995), Australian rules footballer
Nadia Bisiach (born 1965), Australian table tennis player
Nadia Bonfini (born 1965), Italian alpine skier
Nadia Bordon (born 1988), Argentine handball player
Nadia Centoni (born 1981), Italian volleyball player
Nadia Colón (born 2002), Dominican footballer
Nadia Comăneci (born 1961), Romanian Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast
Nadia Coolen (born 1994), Dutch football forward
Musicians and singers
Nadia Ali (singer) (born 1980), Pakistani-American singer-songwriter
Nadia Almada (born 1977), Portuguese reality television star, winner of Big Brother UK
Nadia Azzi (born 1998), American classical pianist of Lebanese-Japanese origin
Nadia Batson, Trinidadian singer, songwriter, producer and model
Nadia Boulanger (1887–1979), French composer, conductor and teacher
Nadia Krasteva, Bulgarian mezzo-soprano
Nadia López (born 1983), Mexican singer and reality television star
Nadia Malm (born 1986), Danish singer who collaborated with Svenstrup & Vendelboe
Nadia Meikher (born 1982), Ukrainian singer-songwriter, actress, poet, television personality and fashion designer
Nadia Mladjao (born 1979), French pop-soul singer better known by her stage name Imany
Nadia Nakai (born 1990), Zimbabwean-South African rapper and television personality
Nadia Oh (born 1990), English singer, rapper, producer and model
Nadia Reid (born 1991), New Zealand folk singer-songwriter
Nadia Reisenberg (1904–1983), American pianist of Lithuanian birth
Politicians and activists
Nadia Ahmad Samdin, Singaporean politician and consultant
Nadia Al-Sakkaf, Yemeni politician
Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Moroccan entrepreneur and politician
Nadia Aprile (born 1962), Italian politician
Nadia Aziz (born 1973), Pakistani politician
Nadia Binte Amin (born 1963), Bangladeshi politician
Nadia Boubeghla, Algerian politician
Nadia Brédimas-Assimopoulos, Canadian politician
Nadia Calviño (born 1968), Spanish economist and civil servant
Nádia Campeão (born 1958), Brazilian engineer and politician
Nadia Clancy, Australian politician
Nadia Cruz (born 1982), Bolivian lawyer and politician
Nadia de León Torres, Guatemalan politician
Nadia Arop Dudi (born 1971), South Sudanese politician
Nadia Makram Ebeid, Egyptian politician
Nadia El-Nakla, Scottish politician and wife of the First Minister of Scotland
Nadia Essayan (born 1957), French politician
Nadia Gallico Spano (1916–2006), Italian politician
Writers and journalists
Nadia al-Ghazzi (born 1935), Syrian lawyer and writer
Nadia Al-Kokabany, Yemeni novelist, short story writer and academic
Nadia Ali (broadcaster) (born 1984), English broadcaster
Nadia Al Najjar, Emirati writer
Nadia Anjuman (1980–2005), poet from Afghanistan
Nadia Brown, American poet, writer, and author
Nadia Bulkin, Indonesian-American author and political scientist
Nadia Cavalera (born 1950), Italian novelist, poet and literary critic
Nadia Chafik (born 1962), Moroccan novelist
Nadia Colburn (born 1972), American poet and non-fiction writer
Nadia Crow, American TV news reporter
Nadia Daam (born 1978), French journalist
Nadia Davids (born 1977), award-winning South African writer
Nadia Drake (born 1980), science journalist who writes the No Place Like Home blog for National Geographic
Nadia Fezzani, Canadian journalist/author; researches American serial killers
Nadia Fink, Argentine author
Nadia Ghulam (born 1985), Afghan writer
Other
Nadia Badawi, Australian physician
Nadia Bakhurji, Saudi interior designer who announced her candidacy in the 2005 Saudi elections
Nadia Bartel, Australian model and fashion designer
Nadia Bolz-Weber (born 1969), American Lutheran minister
Nadia Bouras, Dutch historian of Moroccan descent
Nadia Bukhari, British pharmacist of Pakistani origin
Nadia Dowshen, American pediatrician
Nadia Essex (born 1981), English media personality
Nadia Gamal (1937–1990), Egyptian dancer of Greek descent
Nadia Geller (born 1976), American interior designer, artist and TV personality
Nadia Giosia (born 1980), Canadian-Italian chef, comic actress and singer, presenter of Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen
Nadia Heninger (born 1982), American cryptographer and computer security expert
Nadia Lim (born 1985), New Zealand celebrity chef, entrepreneur, food writer and TV personality
Nadia Marcinko (born 1986), Slovak-born pilot, flight instructor and CEO of Aviloop
Nadia Roccia (died 1998), Italian female murder victim
Nadia Russo (1901–1988), Romanian aviator
Fictional characters
Nadia Gates in Blake Edwards film "Blind Date" (1987) played by Kim Basinger
Nadia, Palestinian protagonist of the film A.K.A Nadia
Nadia Sinh, protagonist of Amazon Prime's Citadel
Nadia Chernyshevski, in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy
Nadia Fedor, female protagonist and companion to the leading character in Jules Verne's novel Michael Strogoff
Nadia Fortune, in Skullgirls
Nadia Godfrey, on the television series Hemlock Grove
Nadia Jazeem, on the ABC television series Lost
Nadia La Arwall, in the Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water anime directed by Hideaki Anno
Nadia Petrova, Katherine's daughter on the CW television drama The Vampire Diaries
Nadia Santos, on the television series Alias
Nadia van Dyne, also known as "the Wasp", a character in Marvel Comics
Nadia Vulvokov, in the television series Russian Doll
Nadia Yassir, from the Fox television series 24
Nadia McConnell, the sister of the protagonist from the musical Bare: A Pop Opera
Nadia el Mansour, in the TV series Le Bureau des Légendes