See the results of this poll: Auriel - Girl, boy, or unisex?
Respondents: 54 (This poll is closed)
- Girl or Girl-leaning : 42 (78%)
- Boy or boy-leaning : 2 (4%)
- Unisex - equally used & useable for boys and girls alike: 10 (19%)
If I saw or heard the name [name_f]Auriel[/name_f], I would assume that it was a girl/woman.
Behind the Name is an excellent source. They do not have the name listed but there is a user-submitted link on the name.
It definitely leans feminine to me, but I can see the connection to [name_m]Uriel[/name_m] or [name_u]Ariel[/name_u], which are masculine and unisex respectively. To me, [name_u]Ariel[/name_u] is feminine leaning due to cultural association more than actual sound or appearance
This is a funny one for me - seeing it written down, it looks like a boy name, a variation on [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] (and they seem to have the same origins, relating to “gold” in Latin). Hearing it aloud, it sounds so much like [name_u]Ariel[/name_u] (which feels all girl to me due to The [name_m]Little[/name_m] Mermaid) and [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] that it leans girl.
It has always puzzled me how it is decided which -el name gets to be a boys name ([name_m]Daniel[/name_m], [name_m]Samuel[/name_m]) and which -el name is unmistakably feminine ([name_u]Ariel[/name_u], [name_f]Muriel[/name_f].) Most -el names are angelic, so at some point in common use, they were assigned a gender.
The most puzzling to me has always been [name_u]Ariel[/name_u], which reads and feels totally male to me, but due to that stupid mermaid, it can’t be given to a boy in the US.
[name_f]Auriel[/name_f] to me is kind of a gender-shifter. I can see it as girl or boy, but it doesn’t exactly come across as unisex-as-in-gender-neutral. I actually agree with the pp that the look and sound of the name give off differing vibes, the look of it suggests boy, but it sounds like a girl’s name.
Interesting! The ‘Aur’ beginning reminds me of [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] but the ‘iel’ ending reminds me of [name_u]Ariel[/name_u] (which I read as male because of [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m]). So unisex I guess?
I knew a little boy a couple years ago named [name_f]Auriel[/name_f], so to me it is masculine. But with [name_u]Ariel[/name_u] being unisex, I can see it working on a girl, too. I guess I’d say unisex? I used to like [name_f]Aurielle[/name_f] on a girl–[name_f]Auriel[/name_f] would be the masculine spelling, for me. But I could see it going either way. That’s about all I know about it–I’m more familiar with [name_u]Ariel[/name_u]/le and [name_f]Ariella[/name_f].
[name_m]How[/name_m] would you pronounce it? I would pronounce it AWR-iel, and that pronounciation strikes me as masculine. But if I pronounced it aw-[name_m]RIEL[/name_m], that sounds more feminine to me.
I voted boy but I really had no idea. [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] is typically the female form of [name_f]Aura[/name_f], so I’d use one of those if I were you. Not a huge fan of [name_f]Aura[/name_f] (potential pronunciation issues), but [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] is beautiful.
[name_f]Auriel[/name_f] feels more like a girls’ name to me, given its similarity to female names like [name_u]Ariel[/name_u], [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] and [name_f]Mariel[/name_f]. If I saw the name and had to guess the gender I would say girl, but it’s not common enough to be tied to either gender and would therefore be usable on a boy [name_f]IMO[/name_f].
As for why certain -el names are masculine and others are feminine- most names where it’s pronounced “el” rather than “ul” are feminine. e.g. [name_f]Annabel[/name_f], [name_f]Christabel[/name_f], [name_f]Adele[/name_f] (if that counts) vs. [name_m]Daniel[/name_m], [name_m]Gabriel[/name_m], [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m].