Fun Facts About the Name Azael
- More than 3 thousand babies named Azael: U.S. records list 3,945 babies given the name Azael from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Azael Mean?
Azael is a Hebrew name whose meaning is not securely established. The explanation most often offered reads it as a compound of ʿoz (עֹז, "strength") and ʾel (אֵל, "God"), which would give a sense like "strength of God." That analysis fits the familiar Hebrew pattern of a noun plus ʾel, but it is a proposed reading rather than one confirmed by the early texts, which do not spell the name consistently. Readers should treat the meaning as probable rather than settled.
Azael is frequently treated as a form of Azazel, yet in some of the earliest surviving texts the two names belong to separate figures, and Azazel's own derivation is disputed. The name is also often confused with the biblical Asahel ("God has made"), which is a different name built on a different root. Because the relationship between these forms is debated, no single translation can be given with confidence.
Azael Name History & Origins
Azael belongs to Jewish angel traditions. In the Book of the Watchers, an early Jewish work preserved in the Ethiopic Book of Enoch (1 Enoch), one of the chiefs of the fallen angels is named Asael, also transliterated Azael. He is named in the lists of the Watchers' leaders in chapters 6 and 69, among the angels who came down to earth and were blamed for the corruption that preceded the flood. The work was composed in Aramaic in the last centuries before the Common Era, and portions of it were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, so the name circulated in Jewish literature long before the medieval manuscripts that preserve the complete text.
The rabbis told a version of the same story. In the Talmud (Niddah 61a), two angels, Shemhazai and Azael, are said to have asked to live on earth, then sinned with human women; the passage comments on the "sons of God" of Genesis 6. The Hebrew form used here is Azael, matching the Asael of the Enochic lists. Later midrashic collections retold the legend and added details about the two angels' punishment.
In the modern period Azael is used as a masculine given name, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries, where it is usually stressed on the final syllable (ah-sah-EL). It is a different name from Azrael, the angel of death of Islamic tradition. In English-speaking countries the name is uncommon and is met mainly in religious and angel-name contexts.
How Popular is the Name Azael?
Azael recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2025. Its best rank was #645 in 2025.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #645 | 432 | 0.0253% |
| 2024 | #655 | 419 | 0.0244% |
| 2023 | #700 | 379 | 0.0222% |
| 2022 | #848 | 287 | 0.0165% |
| 2021 | #950 | 237 | 0.0136% |
| 2020 | #1,129 | 173 | 0.0100% |
| 2019 | #1,106 | 178 | 0.0099% |
| 2018 | #1,478 | 117 | 0.0064% |
| 2017 | #1,435 | 120 | 0.0065% |
| 2016 | #1,515 | 112 | 0.0059% |
| 2015 | #1,405 | 122 | 0.0064% |
| 2014 | #1,538 | 104 | 0.0054% |
| 2013 | #1,626 | 94 | 0.0050% |
| 2012 | #1,800 | 82 | 0.0043% |
| 2011 | #2,035 | 66 | 0.0035% |
| 2010 | #1,714 | 89 | 0.0046% |
| 2009 | #1,433 | 117 | 0.0059% |
| 2008 | #1,494 | 109 | 0.0053% |
| 2007 | #1,651 | 93 | 0.0045% |
| 2006 | #1,618 | 89 | 0.0043% |
| 2005 | #1,774 | 74 | 0.0037% |
| 2004 | #1,687 | 76 | 0.0038% |
| 2003 | #1,614 | 78 | 0.0039% |
| 2002 | #3,106 | 29 | 0.0015% |
| 2001 | #2,492 | 39 | 0.0020% |
| 2000 | #3,928 | 20 | 0.0010% |
| 1999 | #2,465 | 36 | 0.0019% |
| 1998 | #3,024 | 26 | 0.0014% |
| 1997 | #3,358 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 1996 | #3,686 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1995 | #5,534 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1994 | #4,561 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1993 | #4,033 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1992 | #4,898 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1991 | #3,473 | 17 | 0.0008% |
| 1990 | #5,023 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1989 | #7,027 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1988 | #6,497 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1984 | #4,588 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1981 | #4,545 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1977 | #5,923 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Azael Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You desire to inspire and lead, to control other's affairs. You are giving, courageous and bold, action oriented,energetic and strong willed. You want to make a difference in the world, and this attitude often attracts you to cultural interests, politics, social issues, and the cultivation of your creative talents.
✦ Azael's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Azael's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.