Gender | Female |
---|---|
Language(s) | Hebrew |
Origin | |
Meaning | ibex, mountain goat |
Region of origin | Near Eastern |
Other names | |
Alternative spelling | Iael, Iaël, Jael, Jaël, Yaël, Ιαήλ (Greek) |
Yael (Hebrew: יָעֵל, pronounced [jaˈʔel]; also spelled Jael) is a female given name of Hebrew origin. It is the name of biblical figure Jael, who saved the Israelites by killing Sisera, commander of the Canaanite king Jabin's army, by hammering a tent peg through his temple while asleep in her tent. The word yael means "Nubian ibex" (Capra nubiana), from a verbal phrase meaning "he goes up".
In France, Yael or Yaël has been recorded was a somewhat rare feminine given name given in the 1970s and 1980s; it has since re-surfaced as a masculine given name ranked between 494th and 249th in popularity in France during 2000 to 2021.[1]