Ithiel

Ithiel is a masculine name of Hebrew origin found in the English Bible. Its Hebrew form is אִיתִיאֵל (’Iṯi’ēl), which possibly means “God is with me” — a meaning that aligns with the theophoric element -el (“God”). The name appears once in the Old Testament, in Proverbs 30:1, as part of a notoriously obscure heading: “The words of Agur son of Jakeh, [the man of] Massa; the speech of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal.” It is unclear whether Ithiel is a person to whom the prophecy is addressed or a symbolic figure; some interpreters regard it as an angelic name due to the common -iel suffix shared with names like Gabriel and Uriel.

Etymology

Scholars have offered several interpretations of the name’s root. One theory derives Ithiel from the Hebrew word ʼoṯ (אוֹתּ), meaning “sign” or “letter,” yielding renderings such as “words of God” or “he who understood the signs [of God].” This etymology links the name to divine communication, analogous to the idea of an alphabet or symbolic revelation. The Septuagint translation reads aitiēi as a vocative phrase, suggesting the original text may have been misconstrued.

Post‑Biblical and Cultural References

The Irish abbot and missionary Columba (6th century CE) mentions Ithiel in his poem “Farewell” as one of seven guardian angels assigned to a monastery, alongside Uriel. Later, the 19th‑century Anglican bishop and patristic scholar Arthur Cleveland Coxe composed Advent: a Mystery, a dramatic dialogue in which Ithiel and Adiel (another highly speculative angelic name) converse as allegorical figures. Because the biblical context is minimal, most literary and esoteric uses of Ithiel are extrapolations rather than historically attested practices.

Notable Bearers

• Ithiel (16th century): a Christian Hebraist from Naples who assisted in editing the Complutensian Polyglot Bible and promoted Kabbalistic studies among Christian scholars.

Today the name is exceptionally rare, retained primarily by scholarly enthusiasts of obscure biblical figures and by families seeking an unconventional name with a strong religious meaning.

• Meaning: Possibly “God is with me” or “words of God”
• Origin: Hebrew (Biblical)
• Type: Biblical name, angelic in later traditions
• Usage region: English‑speaking world (exceedingly rare)