Save Gender Masculine Usage Arabic Scripts معاوية(Arabic) Pronounced Pron. /mu.ˈʕaː.wi.ja/ [key·simplify] Meaning & History Means "howler, one who howls" in Arabic (referring to female dogs or the cubs of foxes, lions or other animals), from the root عوى (ʾawā) meaning "to howl". This was the name of the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Empire.