How to say it
AR · i · el
/ˈɛər.i.əl/
Unisex
Ariel
Lion of God
What it means
Hebrew, 'lion of God,' used in the Bible as a poetic name for the city of Jerusalem.
Ariel is Hebrew for 'lion of God,' and scripture uses it as a symbolic name for Jerusalem. It is a traditional male name in Hebrew and in modern Israel, and Shakespeare gave it to the airy spirit of The Tempest. In the US, Disney's 1989 The Little Mermaid swung it firmly toward girls. So it reads genuinely unisex, with the lean depending on where you are. Ari is the natural short.
Popularity over time
Feminine: peaked at #66 in 1991, currently #356 in 2025.
Masculine: peaked at #360 in 1991, currently #558 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Worth knowing
Male in Hebrew and Israeli use, female in the US since The Little Mermaid; genuinely unisex.
- Nickname
Ari works for any gender.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Ariel the airy spirit bound to Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest
- Ariel the mermaid heroine of Disney's The Little Mermaid
Spelling variants
- Arielle
- Ariella
- Aryel
Names with the same feeling
See Ariel from another angle
By meaning
By style