Given name & surname

Uriel

“the angel of light”

Uriel is used as a given name and a surname. One Hebrew interpretation is “the angel of light.”

Original Hebrewאוריאל

Meaning & origin

What it means

One Hebrew interpretation is “the angel of light.”

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.

How it developed

From Ancient Greek Οὐριήλ, from Hebrew אוּרִיאֵל (“God is my light”).

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

The name appears in biblical tradition, giving it a longstanding religious and cultural context.

In the Bible

In the Bible, the name Uriel appears in 1 Chronicles 6:24, 1 Chronicles 15:5, 1 Chronicles 15:11.

  • 1 Chronicles 6:24
  • 1 Chronicles 15:5
  • 1 Chronicles 15:11

From biblical name research

Uriel through the years

Babies since 1880
21,393
21,075 boys · 318 girls
Most popular year
2008
796 babies
2025
719
#446 for boys · #9,422 for girls
2021–25 vs 2016–20
+7%
Steady
Boys Girls
0200400600192019401960198020002025Highest share 2025Boys 415Girls 6.8
Uriel in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1913–2025, per million births of each sex. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

Where it’s given

Most at home inArizona, Texas, California
FewerMore, relative to births Not published
2025 births by state of birth. Tiles are equal-sized so small states stay visible. Highest rates: Arizona (32), Texas (166), California (146), New Jersey (20), North Carolina (23).

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 708 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 446 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 7.8% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 789 in 2008. It also appeared in 11 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (166). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 19,855 as a first name in 2020; 184 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Uriel’s family of names

In Polish usage, Uriel has a diminutive in Urielek. In German usage, Uriel has a conventional equivalent in the French form OURIEL. Uriel has a related form in Uriela.

Walk Uriel’s family in the name graph

UrielUrielleUryelUrielaUryelleUriellUryellUrielekArielOrielUrieleOurielUrielisⲟⲩⲣⲓⲏⲗУриилΟυριήλUriëlUriélУріельУрилウリエルUrieloՈւրիել

Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Uriel has relatives in 16 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.

ItalianAfrikaansUkrainianRussianJapaneseHebrew

16 related names in 16 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Dots on the border stand for languages further away. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Similar names

If you love Uriel, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Hebrew · Biblical

Emmanuel

“God is with us”

73CommonEasing

>99% boys

Hebrew · Biblical

Gabriel

“man of God” · “a hero of God”

87Very commonEasing

>99% boys

Hebrew · Biblical

Abel

“the life force; breath”

70CommonEasing

>99% boys

Hebrew · Biblical

Eli

“one who has ascended; my God on high”

79CommonEasing

99% boys · 1% girls

Hebrew · Biblical

Isaac

“full of laughter”

86Very commonEasing

>99% boys

Hebrew · Biblical

Isaiah

“God is salvation” · “God is my salvation”

84CommonEasing

>99% boys

Hebrew · Biblical

Ezekiel

“God strengthens” · “strengthened by God”

84CommonRising

>99% boys

Hebrew · Biblical

Abram

“high father”

53UncommonCooling

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Uriel’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Uriel

A sister for Uriel