Uriel

Meaning of Uriel

Uriel originates from the Hebrew phrase “אוּרִיאֵל” (’Ūrīʼēl), conventionally rendered “God is my light,” and it enters the Anglo-American onomastic landscape through scriptural and post-biblical literature in which the archangel Uriel serves as a guardian of wisdom and of the dawn’s first radiance. While the name has never occupied the upper tiers of United States popularity tables, it has sustained a quiet, almost luminous continuity: recorded sporadically since 1913, rising above rank 600 in the mid-1980s, and stabilizing near the mid-400s during the last decade, with 670 newborn bearers in 2024. Pronounced YOO-ree-el in English and oo-REE-el in Spanish, the appellation possesses a phonetic clarity that appeals to bilingual households and to parents who seek a theologically resonant choice without the familiarity of Michael or Gabriel. Literary scholars also note Uriel’s cameo in Milton’s Paradise Lost, where the archangel functions as the “regent of the sun,” a role that reinforces the intrinsic light imagery of the name. Consequently, Uriel occupies a distinctive niche—scholarly rather than fashionable, contemplative rather than exuberant—yet its steady presence on contemporary birth registers suggests that, for many families, the promise of illumination still carries quiet authority.

Pronunciation

Spanish

• Pronunced as oo-REE-el (/uːˈɾje.el/)

English

• Pronunced as YOO-ree-el (/ˈjʊəriəl/)

• Nathaniel
• Ezekiel
• Rafael
• Daniel
• Samuel
• Gabriel