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'''Chawla,''' also spelled Chowla, is a surname of the Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs of India. It originates from the name of a clan of the [[Arora]] [[caste system in India|caste]], likely stemming from the crop word ''chawal'', which means ''rice''.<ref name="Hanks">{{cite book |editor1-last=Hanks |editor1-first=Patrick |editor2-last=Coates |editor2-first=Richard |editor3-last=McClure |editor3-first=Peter |editor1-link=Patrick Hanks |editor2-link=Richard Coates |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland |year=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-967776-4 |page=480 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AyDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA480 |quote=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’.}}</ref>
==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
* [[Bhumika Chawla]] (born 1978), Indian actress
* [[Bobby Chawla]] (born 1982), Danish cricketer
* [[Devika Chawla]], Indian pop singer
* [[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
* [[Keerthi Chawla]] (born 1981), Indian actress
* [[Laxmi Kanta Chawla]], Indian politician
* [[Louise Chawla]], American professor
* [[Mukesh Kumar Chawla]], Pakistani politician
* [[Navin Chawla]] (born 1945), 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]], 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]], Indian actress
* [[Tarang Chawla]] (born 1987), Indian-born Australian activist and writer
* [[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==
{{Reflist}}
{{surname}}
[[Category:Arora clans]]
[[Category:Surnames of Hindu origin]]