Angel

Where the name comes from

• Greek, through Latin
  Messenger. Later, a heavenly messenger, an angel.
  Greek angelos ("messenger, envoy, one that announces"), which became Latin angelus
  In everyday Greek, angelos simply meant a messenger. Ancient Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible used it for Hebrew mal'akh, "messenger." From there it took on the meaning of a messenger from God. Church Latin borrowed it as angelus. The medieval Latin personal name Angelus comes from this word. The deeper origin of the Greek word is uncertain. It may be related to angaros, "mounted courier," and both may come from an unknown Eastern language.
• Spanish
  Angel, messenger
  Ángel, the Spanish form of Latin Angelus
  Records from Spain show Angel as a man's name by 1491, about 535 years ago, and in Catalan in Valencia by 1510. In Spanish, Ángel is a man's name, pronounced AHN-hel. It is also a Spanish family name. A related Spanish family name is Del Ángel.
• English
  Angel
  Middle English angel, from Old French angele and Latin angelus
  In England, Angel was used now and then as a first name. Over time, English speakers came to use it more often for girls. As an English family name, Angel may have started as a nickname for someone with a gentle nature or good looks. It may also have been given to someone who played an angel in a religious pageant.

Angel across traditions

• Jewish and Christian scripture. The Greek word behind Angel translated the Hebrew mal'akh, "messenger." The New Testament uses it both for human messengers and for messengers sent by God, such as Gabriel.
• Catholic Spain and Latin America. Ángel is a long-standing Catholic man's name in the Spanish-speaking world. In the 2000s it ranked among the top boys' names in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas and Puerto Rico.
• Medieval Italy and the Carmelite order. A monk named Angelos preached in Sicily and was killed there around 1217. The Carmelites claimed him as a saint of their order. After that, the name caught on widely in Italy as Angelo for boys and Angela for girls.

Who carried it

• Konstantinos Angelos (Byzantine Empire, about 925 years ago): A young nobleman from Philadelphia, a city in what is now Turkey. Angelos probably began as his family's surname, and the name first spread through it.
• The Angelos emperors (Byzantine Empire, from about 840 years ago): The Angelos family took the Byzantine throne in 1185. That made the name widely known among Greeks.
• St. Angelus (Angelo) of Sicily (About 810 years ago): A monk who preached in Palermo and was killed by a count he had criticized. He is the reason the name became popular in Italy.

Forms in other languages

Ángel, Àngel, Angelo, Ângelo, Angelos, Angelus, Anghel, Anđel, Engel, Ange, Angela, Angelina, Angelica, Angélique, Angèle

Angel in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.