Hebrew3 syllablesBiblical
Meaning: Yahweh is my light.
Uriah
Uriah means "Yahweh is my light" and comes trailing two ghosts: a soldier murdered by his own king, and the greasiest clerk in English fiction.
| Origin | Hebrew — Uriyyah, borne by several men in the Hebrew Bible |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Yahweh is my light, from ur ("flame, light") plus Yah, the shortened divine name |
| Pronunciation | yoo-RY-uh (three syllables, stress on the second) |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100 and uncommon, though it has never quite gone away since the Puritans picked it up |
| Variants | Urijah, Urias, Uria; Uriel is a separate name built on the same first element |
| Nicknames | Uri, Ri, Riah |
| In scripture | 2 Samuel 11 — Uriah the Hittite, husband of Bathsheba |
History & meaning
The name is built from ur, flame or light, and the abbreviated form of the divine name, giving "Yahweh is my light". Its most famous bearer is a foreigner. Uriah the Hittite served among David's elite soldiers, and when David got Bathsheba pregnant he recalled Uriah from the front so the timing would look right. Uriah refused to sleep at home while the army was in the field, and David then sent him back with orders that got him killed. The narrative gives the honour entirely to Uriah and none of it to the king, which is unusual for a court history and one reason the story has never lost its bite.
Puritan families took the name up in the seventeenth century and carried it to America, where it stayed in modest use. Then Dickens ruined it. Uriah Heep, the perpetually "'umble" clerk of David Copperfield, is one of the most efficient character assassinations in English literature, and the reason English speakers still flinch slightly at the name. It is worth saying plainly rather than pretending otherwise. The rock band that took his name in 1969 has, if anything, kept the association alive.
Why parents choose it
The meaning is luminous, the sound is soft and rolling, and the Dickens shadow genuinely is fading — readers under forty are far likelier to place the band than the clerk. It also gives you Uri, a clean and unusual short form.
Middle names for Uriah
A vowel ending calls for a hard landing: Uriah James, Uriah Cole, Uriah Bennett, Uriah Grant. See the middle names guide.
Famous Uriahs
Uriah Rennie became the first Black referee to officiate in the English Premier League. Uriah Hall, born in Jamaica and raised in New York, fought for years as a UFC middleweight and remains the name's best-known living bearer in the U.S.
Consider instead
Uriel keeps the light and swaps the king for an archangel. Elijah gives the same ending with none of the baggage. Josiah is the other great Puritan revival, and currently far commoner. More sit on the U names page.