Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Catalan, English, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: გაბრიელ(Georgian) גַּבְרִיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew) Γαβριήλ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: GA-BREE-YEHL(French) ga-BRYEHL(Spanish) ga-bree-EHL(European Portuguese, Romanian) ga-bree-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) GA-bree-ehl(German, Slovak, Latin) GAH-bri-ehl(Swedish) GAH-bree-ehl(Finnish) gə-bree-EHL(Catalan) GAY-bree-əl(English) GAB-ryehl(Polish) GA-bri-yehl(Czech)
From the Hebrew name
גַבְרִיאֵל (Ḡavriʾel) meaning
"God is my strong man", derived from
גֶּבֶר (gever) meaning "strong man, hero" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Gabriel is an archangel in Hebrew tradition, often appearing as a messenger of God. In the
Old Testament he is sent to interpret the visions of the prophet
Daniel, while in the
New Testament he serves as the announcer of the births of
John to
Zechariah and
Jesus to
Mary. According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the
Quran to
Muhammad.
This name has been used occasionally in England since the 12th century. It was not common in the English-speaking world until the end of the 20th century.