Arely

Arely is a slightly altered respelling of the Hebrew masculine name Areli which means “lion of God” in Hebrew. The name shows up briefly in Genesis 46:16 as the youngest of the seven sons of Gad. Gad in return is the seventh of the twelve sons of Jacob (Gad’s mother was Leah’s maid Zilpah); therefore, Gad is one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Areli is listed as one of the 70 family members who accompanied his grandfather Jacob to Egypt after it was discovered Joseph (Jacob’s favorite son) was dwelling there, alive and well. The name appears briefly again in Numbers 26:17 naming descendents of Areli as Arelites. The lion was very important among ancient Israelites as a symbol of strength, pride and bravery. The number seven is an important religious number symbolizing Divine completion. Areli was Gad’s 7th son, and Gad was Jacob’s 7th son (Gad also means “good fortune, luck” in Hebrew). Lastly, Arely is a #7 in numerology. The more we research this name, the more we came to believe in its divine good luck. Although this is all really folk etymology on our part, we still found it profoundly interesting. In any case, it’s unclear why Americans started using the name Arely and Areli for baby girls when it began as an ancient Hebrew masculine name, but we certainly agree it has a gender neutral-quality. Neither name is particularly popular in the Western World; they do show up time to time on the American naming charts. Arely also appears to be used among Hispanic-Americans and Spanish-speakers especially.