Ariel

AH-ree-el, AIR-ee-el

Hebrew

"lion of God"

Ariel Origin and Meaning

The name Ariel is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "lion of God".

Ariel is a male Biblical name, seen there as the messenger of Ezra, and also used as a symbolic name for the city of Jerusalem, while Shakespeare used it for a (male) sprite in The Tempest.

For girls, Ariel enjoyed a considerable burst of popularity with the 1989 release of Disney's The Little Mermaid: in 1991 it peaked at #66.

Although its wave has crested, Ariel is still a name any little girl would love. It is also associated with the poetry of Sylvia Plath and with the Chilean-American writer Ariel Dorfman. The popular historian Ariel Durant was born Ida Ariel Ethel.

In Israel, Ariel is used as much or more for boys, but in the US, more than three times as many baby girls as boys are named Ariel. Read more about Ariel and other Disney Princess Names in our featured blog.

Ariel Rank in US Top 1000

# 288 in the US

Ariel Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 339 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Ariel

• 288 US 2023
• 339 Nameberry 2025
• 41 Unisex 2023
• 194 Canada 2021
• 116 Future 2028
• 832 England 2023
• 25 Israel 2023

20 Names Similar to Ariel

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Ariel.

• Jasmine
• Selena
• Melody
• Amber
• Madelynne
• Valentina
• Dilynn
• Niah
• Jade
• Ursela
• Serenity
• Júlía
• Belle
• Lilly-rose
• Serena
• Mulia
• Eiyana
• Enydd
• Maxina
• Daveena

Famous People Named Ariel

• Ariel Winter American actress
• Ariel Gade American actress
• Ariel Meredith American supermodel
• Ariel Waller Canadian actress
• Ariel Lin (Yīchén) Taiwanese actress and singer
• Ariel Erin Kaplan Australian actress
• Ariel Bybee American operatic mezzo,soprano
• Ariel Engelbert American singer and TV personality; twin sister Zoey Engelbert
• Ariel Hirsch twin sister of Alex Hirsch and the inspiration for "Gravity Falls" Mabel Pines
• Ariel Shepherd Oppenheim, daughter of actress Cybill Shepherd
• Ariel Coyote daughter of actor Peter Coyote
• Ariel Asa Araya (b. 1996) daughter of bassist Tom Araya of Slayer

The name Ariel in Pop Culture

• Ariel main character of Disney's "The Little Mermaid"
• Ariel Sullivan a character in the movie "In America"
• Ariel Moore a character in the 1984 movie "Footloose"
• Ariel Truax a character in the movie "Grumpy Old Men"
• Ariel Schiller a character in "Starting Out in the Evening"
• Ariel DuBois a character in the drama series "Medium"
• Ariel Wolfe a character in "House on Haunted Hill"
• Ariel Shuman from an episode of TV series "Cold Case"
• Ariel a book of poetry by Sylvia Plath