Daniel (English)

Where does "Daniel" come from?

The English given name and biblical term 'Daniel' descends from Middle English 'Daniel'[1]. This traveled further back through Ancient Greek 'Δᾱνῑήλ'[1], which was borrowed from Biblical Hebrew 'דָּנִיֵּאל'[2]. The original Hebrew source combines 'דָּן' meaning 'one who judges' with '-i' meaning 'me' and 'אֵל' meaning 'God'[3]. This formation creates the literal meaning 'God is my judge'[1], referencing the prophet whose story is told in the biblical Book of Daniel[1].

Full etymology tree

Daniel (English), 'A book in the Old Testament of the Bible.'
- inherited Daniel (Middle English)
  - inherited Δανιήλ (Daniél) (Ancient Greek), 'a male given name from Biblical Hebrew, equivalent to English Daniel'
    - inherited דָּנִיֵּאל (Dāniyyêl) (Biblical Hebrew)
      - compound דָּן (dan) (Biblical Hebrew)
      - compound ־י (-i) (Biblical Hebrew)
      - compound אֵל (el) (Biblical Hebrew)
- inherited Daniell (Middle English)
  - inherited Δανιήλ (Daniél) (Ancient Greek), 'a male given name from Biblical Hebrew, equivalent to English Daniel'
    - inherited דָּנִיֵּאל (Dāniyyêl) (Biblical Hebrew)
      - compound דָּן (dan) (Biblical Hebrew)
      - compound ־י (-i) (Biblical Hebrew)
      - compound אֵל (el) (Biblical Hebrew)

Ancestors

Δανιήλ (Ancient Greek)

Descendants and derived words

Daniels (English)
Daniel come to judgement (English)
Danielish (English)
Daniel Island (English)
Danielness (English)
Danielson (English)
Danielsville (English)
dreamy Daniel (English)
McDaniels (English)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris