Hebrew3 syllablesAngelic
Meaning: God is my light.
Uriel
Uriel means "God is my light", and the archangel who carries it belongs to the books that did not make the canon.
| Origin | Hebrew — Uri'el, a name attested in the Hebrew Bible and, separately, in angelic literature |
|---|---|
| Meaning | God is my light, from ur ("flame, light") plus El ("God") |
| Pronunciation | YOOR-ee-el in English; oo-ree-EL in Spanish, with the stress moved to the end |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100; a familiar and well-used choice in Mexico and among Spanish-speaking American families |
| Variants | Uriyel, Auriel, Oriel; Uriah is a separate name built on the same first element |
| Nicknames | Uri, Riel |
| Archangel status | Named in 2 Esdras and 1 Enoch, not in the canonical Hebrew Bible or New Testament |
History & meaning
Uriel is built the way most Hebrew theophoric names are built: a statement with God's name in it. Ur is flame or light, El is God, and the whole reads "God is my light" or "my light is God". The parallel name Uriah uses the other divine element, Yah, to say the same thing. It is worth being precise about where each Uriel turns up. The name itself does appear in the Hebrew Bible, attached to a Levite in the genealogies of Chronicles and to a man of Gibeah whose daughter married into the royal house of Judah. What does not appear there is the angel.
The archangel Uriel is a figure of the extra-canonical tradition. He is the interrogating angel of 2 Esdras, sent to put God's questions back to Ezra, and in 1 Enoch he governs the lights of heaven and keeps the calendar. Later Christian writers rounded him up into a set of four archangels with Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, but the Roman church restricted the veneration of named angels to those three in the eighth century, which is why Uriel has feast days in the Eastern churches and none in the Western calendar. Milton, characteristically, gave him the sun to run in Paradise Lost.
Why parents choose it
It belongs to the great -el family — Gabriel, Michael, Daniel, Samuel — and is the only member of it still standing largely unclaimed in English-speaking countries. It also crosses languages cleanly, working in English, Spanish and Hebrew with only the stress shifting. Uri is a real short form rather than a manufactured one.
Middle names for Uriel
Three light syllables ending in a consonant take a solid, grounded partner: Uriel James, Uriel Mateo, Uriel Thomas, Uriel Santiago. The middle names guide explains why.
Famous Uriels
Uriel Antuna is a Mexican winger who has played for both Chivas and the national team. Uriel Weinreich, who died at forty-one, wrote the standard modern Yiddish dictionary and did foundational work on how languages influence each other in contact.
Consider instead
Gabriel is the archangel everyone can place. Rafael gives the same angelic register with more warmth. Micah keeps the Hebrew and drops a syllable. More options sit on the U names page.