Ariel
2025 SSA
2025 SSA
About Ariel
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.
Ariel for girls#356 US
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 for boys#558 US
Despite its distinguished pedigree and popularity in Israel, Disney's Little Mermaid cartoonized Ariel in the US, at least in some people's minds. But it was used for a male character in Shakespeare's The Tempest centuries ago.
More recently, cool short form Ari has come into prominence via the character in Entourage, plus its similarity to short, breezy Biblical names like Levi and Eli.
Though Ariel has been on the rise for boys in recent years and flat for girls, the gender divide still leans heavily toward the feminine. But with parents increasingly drawn to uncommon Biblical boy names – especially those with that strong and gentle -iel ending – we think that gap could be set to narrow in the coming years.
Pronounced AIR-ee-ul.
As of October 2026, Ariel ranked #356 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #66 in 1991, Nameberry popularity #535.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #132 | 2,444 | #743 | 319 |
| 2015 | #137 | 2,358 | #602 | 455 |
| 2016 | #140 | 2,198 | #499 | 601 |
| 2017 | #142 | 2,075 | #487 | 600 |
| 2018 | #154 | 1,828 | #584 | 470 |
| 2019 | #172 | 1,683 | #552 | 510 |
| 2020 | #200 | 1,468 | #564 | 497 |
| 2021 | #220 | 1,351 | #557 | 507 |
| 2022 | #237 | 1,292 | #569 | 519 |
| 2023 | #287 | 1,094 | #522 | 565 |
| 2024 | #299 | 1,051 | #511 | 595 |
| 2025 | #356 | 851 | #558 | 533 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 40 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Ariel.
Similar girl names
Similar boy names
Ariel on lists
Famous Ariels
- Ariel WinterGirl
American actress
- Ariel GadeGirl
American actress
- Ariel MeredithGirl
American supermodel
- Ariel WallerGirl
Canadian actress
- Ariel Lin (Yīchén)Girl
Taiwanese actress and singer
- Ariel Erin KaplanGirl
Australian actress
- Ariel BybeeGirl
American operatic mezzo,soprano
- Ariel EngelbertGirl
American singer and TV personality; twin sister Zoey Engelbert
- Ariel HirschGirl
twin sister of Alex Hirsch and the inspiration for "Gravity Falls" Mabel Pines
- Ariel ShepherdGirl
Oppenheim, daughter of actress Cybill Shepherd
- Ariel CoyoteGirl
daughter of actor Peter Coyote
- Ariel Asa Araya (b. 1996)Girl
daughter of bassist Tom Araya of Slayer
- ArielBoy
biblical archangel
- Ariel Sharon (born 1928)Boy
former Israeli prime minister
- Ariel TiconaBoy
Chilean miner who was trapped in the San Jose mine
- Ariel DonidaBoy
male model
- Ariel CamachoBoy
Mexican singer
- Ariel RechtshaidBoy
American record producer
- Ariel "Rel" SchulmanBoy
American actor, director and producer
- Ariel VromenBoy
Israeli,born film director
- Ariel Marcus RosenbergBoy
real name of singer/songwriter Ariel Pink
- Ariel Swanepoel Nicoli (born 2018)Boy
son of Candice Swanepoel and Hermann Nicoli.
- Ariel Malyar Boy
Israeli Paralympic swimmer
Ariel in pop culture
- ArielGirl
main character of Disney's "The Little Mermaid"
- Ariel SullivanGirl
a character in the movie "In America"
- Ariel MooreGirl
a character in the 1984 movie "Footloose"
- Ariel TruaxGirl
a character in the movie "Grumpy Old Men"
- Ariel SchillerGirl
a character in "Starting Out in the Evening"
- Ariel DuBoisGirl
a character in the drama series "Medium"
- Ariel WolfeGirl
a character in "House on Haunted Hill"
- Ariel ShumanGirl
from an episode of TV series "Cold Case"
- ArielGirl
a book of poetry by Sylvia Plath
- ArielBoy
another name for Jerusalem (Isaiah 29:1)
- Ariel "Ari" GoldBoy
character in the HBO series "Entourage"
- ArielBoy
magicial sprite in Shakespeare's "The Tempest"
- Ferdinand Lured by ArielBoy
1850 painting by John Everett Millais which depicts an episode from Act I, Scene II of "The Tempest"
- ArielBoy
antagonist in the SNES video game "Arcana"
- Ariel Boy
Maquia's adopted son in Maquia When the promised flower blooms anime
Variations & nicknames
More nicknames
- AerialGirl
- AerialeGirl
- AerielGirl
- AerielaGirl
- AeriellGirl
- AeryalGirl
- AhrielGirl
- AireGirl
- AirealGirl
- AirialGirl
- AiriélGirl
- AriBoth
- AriaGirl
- ArialBoth
- ArialeGirl
- AriealGirl
- ArielaGirl
- ArieleGirl
- AriellaGirl
- ArielleGirl
- AriellelGirl
- ArriealGirl
- ArrielBoth
- ArrieleGirl
- ArriellGirl
- ArrielleGirl
- AryelGirl
- AryelleGirl
- AurielGirl
- AurielleGirl
- ArikBoy
- ArieBoy
- AriyelBoy