Save Type Surname (from nickname) Usage Arabic (Maghrebi) Scripts زواوي(Arabic) Pronounced Pron. /zwa.wi/(French) [key·simplify] Meaning & History Indicates a member of the Igawawen (called Zouaoua in French) Kabyle tribe, from Maghrebi Arabic زواوة (zwāwa). The tribe's name is of uncertain meaning; it may be derived from the name of a massif in Kabylie, Algeria.