Gender Feminine
Meaning & History
Variant of Arabella.In medieval German literature, Arabel is the name of a character from the epic poem Willehalm (13th century) written by the German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach (died around 1220). She is the daughter of king Terramer and the wife of king Tybalt, who is wooed and won and eventually taken to wife by the protagonist Willehalm.In her case, the name might possibly be a reference to Arabia, as she and her family are all Saracens. This would also add more significance to the fact that she changed her name to Gyburc (see Gyburg) after converting to Christianity for Willehalm.