Who doesn't love the beautiful el-sound? Whether it features at the beginning or end of a name, the el-sound continues to appeal to parents of baby girls, religious or not. For those who do hold the Bible dear, there's a solid selection of el-ending biblical girl names to choose from, from the ethereal Ariel to the zesty Zuriel.
If you're expecting a baby girl and love the idea of giving her a biblical name that boasts the lovely el-ending, one of the following names might be perfect. Or, if you're open to it, you can also broaden your search to include biblical girl names that start with the El-sound. Either way, we hope you'll find that perfect El-name for your little blessing!
In the Bible, Ariel is used as a symbolic name for Jerusalem. As an American baby name, this ethereal appellation qualifies as unisex but has been leaning girlward since the 1980s when Disney used it for the female protagonist in The Little Mermaid. In contemporary Israel, Ariel is primarily used as a male name.
A firm fixture in the U.S. Top 100 from the 1970s through the aughts, this name holds biblical significance as one of the two wives of Jacob. While Rachel feels a little outdated at the moment, its solid Old Testament pedigree puts it in the category of classic biblical girl names that never completely fall out of favor. The Spanish version of the name, Raquel, is also a possibility.
Tracing its roots to the Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible), Yael is a hugely popular girls' name in contemporary Israel, but it also works in the American context. In the Book of Judges, the seventh book of the Christian Old Testament, Yael is the valiant heroine who rescued the people of Israel from King Jabin's Canaanite army. The name can also be spelled Jael.
The name Bethel found some favor in the late 1910s and early 1920s, but has never appealed to the masses. Appearing frequently as a place name in the Old Testament, the biblical meaning of Bethel is "House of God".
Yet another biblical place name that has been used as a girls' name, Carmel refers to a prominent mountain range in Israel. It's mentioned in the Bible as the setting of several important events, including the confrontation between the prophet Elijah and the false prophets of Baal. As a modern baby name, its biggest challenge is probably it similarity to the word "caramel".
In the Bible, Lael is the father of the Gershonite leader Eliasaph. In the baby name world, it's a charming unisex name that feels surprisingly fresh and modern, despite its ancient roots.
To the dismay of many Christian baby namers, the gorgeous Ophelia is not in the Bible. For all those who love this stunning Shakespearean name and are devastated that it's not a biblical name, there's a name very similar to Ophelia in the Bible: Ophel. In the Old Testament, Ophel appears as the name of a location within Jerusalem, and it's often mentioned in connection with the city's fortifications. With biblical place names like Eden and Zion currently in the spotlight, Ophel feels like it could get the baby name treatment too—if you can gloss over the aural association with the word "offal"!
The old botanical girl name Hazel is back in a big way, so it's easy to imagine Azel, which is just one letter away from Hazel, finding its way onto an American baby girl's birth certificate. As for the biblical link, Azel appears as a male name in the Bible, but its similarity to the comeback star Hazel and the lilting el-ending make it feel like a modern possibility for a baby girl.
Peniel, or Penuel, is a rare but not completely unheard-of baby name choice that has been used for both girls and boys in the contemporary U.S. In the Bible, Peniel/Penuel is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the place where Jacob wrestled with a mysterious, unnamed man who turned out to be God.
Rarely encountered as a baby name before the turn of the century, Zuri shot to prominence in the 2010s. If you too are drawn to this short and zippy moniker but would like to pair it with a longer formal name, you could name your baby girl Zuriel and call her Zuri for short. The elaborate Zuriel traces its roots to the Old Testament, where it belongs to a Merarite chief. As a modern baby name, Zuriel feels like an equal opportunity possibility that could work for either gender.
The Z-beginning biblical girls' name Zuriel rounds out our list of Bible-inspired girl names with the el-suffix. If you don't know your baby's gender yet, you may also want to check out our list of biblical boy names that end in el.