# Ariel (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ariel/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “lion”, “god”, “lion of god” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɛɹiəl/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Ari |
| Variant spellings | Arielle |
| US babies named this | 100,665 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 21,968 / 78,697 (78% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,008, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Biblical Hebrew אֲרִיאֵל (ari'él, a compound of אֲרִי (arí, “lion”) + אֵל (él, “God”), literally “lion of God”). * (moon of Uranus): All of Uranus’s moons are named after characters created by William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope. The names of all four satellites of Uranus then known were suggested by John Herschel in 1852 at the request of William Lassell, though it is uncertain if Herschel devised the names, or if Lassell did so and then sought Herschel’s permission. Ariel is the name of the leading sylph in Pope’s The Rape of the Lock and also the spirit who serves Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

## What it means

Ariel is grouped under god and lion.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,438 | 220 |
| 2012 | 1,742 | 181 |
| 2013 | 2,140 | 145 |
| 2014 | 2,445 | 132 |
| 2015 | 2,358 | 137 |
| 2016 | 2,199 | 140 |
| 2017 | 2,076 | 142 |
| 2018 | 1,832 | 154 |
| 2019 | 1,685 | 172 |
| 2020 | 1,472 | 200 |
| 2021 | 1,351 | 220 |
| 2022 | 1,295 | 236 |
| 2023 | 1,096 | 287 |
| 2024 | 1,055 | 300 |
| 2025 | 851 | 356 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 379 | 623 |
| 2012 | 296 | 769 |
| 2013 | 298 | 759 |
| 2014 | 319 | 743 |
| 2015 | 455 | 602 |
| 2016 | 601 | 499 |
| 2017 | 600 | 488 |
| 2018 | 470 | 584 |
| 2019 | 511 | 551 |
| 2020 | 497 | 565 |
| 2021 | 507 | 557 |
| 2022 | 519 | 569 |
| 2023 | 566 | 521 |
| 2024 | 598 | 509 |
| 2025 | 533 | 558 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 17 | 1,665 |
| 2012 | 11 | 2,338 |
| 2013 | 19 | 1,587 |
| 2014 | 32 | 1,094 |
| 2015 | 35 | 1,007 |
| 2016 | 26 | 1,278 |
| 2017 | 35 | 1,021 |
| 2018 | 34 | 1,035 |
| 2019 | 45 | 823 |
| 2020 | 52 | 710 |
| 2021 | 37 | 936 |
| 2022 | 33 | 1,023 |
| 2023 | 43 | 832 |
| 2024 | 41 | 885 |
| 2025 | 37 | 951 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 16 | 1,447 |
| 2012 | 14 | 1,669 |
| 2013 | 10 | 2,055 |
| 2014 | 20 | 1,281 |
| 2015 | 15 | 1,586 |
| 2016 | 17 | 1,498 |
| 2017 | 20 | 1,289 |
| 2018 | 7 | 2,693 |
| 2019 | 16 | 1,506 |
| 2020 | 16 | 1,492 |
| 2021 | 24 | 1,139 |
| 2022 | 16 | 1,534 |
| 2023 | 26 | 1,108 |
| 2024 | 23 | 1,199 |
| 2025 | 30 | 1,007 |

## In other languages

- Finnish: Ariel
- Greek: Ἀριήλ
- Hebrew: אֲרִיאֵל
- Hindi: एरियल
- Italian: Ariele
- Portuguese: Ariel
- Russian: Ариэ́ль

## People named Ariel

- Ariel Ortega, Argentine footballer
- Ariel Winter, American actress
- Baby Ariel, American social media personality
- Ariel Ibagaza, Argentine association football player
- Ariel Garcé, Argentine association football player
- Ariel Ramírez, Argentine composer, pianist and music director (1921–2010)
- Ariel Dorfman, Chilean writer
- Ariel Pink, American musician, singer, and songwriter (born 1978)
- Ariel Hernández, boxer
- Ariel Gade, American actress
- Ariel Atkins, American basketball player (born 1996)
- Ariel Francisco Rodríguez, Costa Rican footballer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.