He’s a messenger angel, a tough guy with a girly name.  His name is among the most popular choices for American boys today.

Thanks to Kelly for suggesting Gabriel as Name of the Day.

Gabriel is rich with religious significance:

• His name comes from the Hebrew Gavri-el, which translates to something like God is my hero, or strong man of God;
• He has significance in Judaism, Christianity and Islam;
• While there’s no Biblical basis, legend has it that a blast of Gabriel’s trumpet will signal the beginning of Armageddon.

His -iel ending is associated with popular choices for girls, from Muriel to Ariel.  Feminine forms Gabriella and Gabrielle are chart toppers for girls.

Nickname Gabe turns the angel into a rough and tumble cowboy, and makes him far more wearable.

And Gabriel is well worn.  He’s ranked in the US Top 1000 every year since 1880, and entered the Top 100 back in 1976.

He’s also highly portable.  If you need a name that can travel, Gabriel is a safe bet.  He’s in the Top Ten in places as different as Iceland and Brazil, and ranks in the Top 100 of:

• Canada;
• Australia;
• France;
• Spain;
• Sweden;
• Norway;
• Belgium;
• Austria;
• The Republic of Georgia;
• Chile.

Famous Gabriels include:

• Italy’s Saint Gabriel, who lived in the 1800s and was canonized in 1920;
• Nineteenth century French philosopher Gabriel Marcel;
• Gabriel García Márquez is a Nobel prize-winning Colombian novelist, best known for One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera;
• You’ve probably seen Oscar-nominated Irish actor Gabriel Byrne on the big screen;
• In 2003, Prince Philippe, the heir apparent to the throne of Belgium, and his wife Princess Mathilde welcomed a son named Gabriel, third in line to the throne after big sister Elisabeth and their dad;
• Gabriel is also a surname, as in musician Peter Gabriel, formerly of Genesis, later a successful solo artist and advocate for world music.

Gabriel has been in sparing use over the centuries, but became more common in recent years.  Two heroic Gabriels may have encouraged his use:

• In the summer of 1800, Gabriel Prosser led a rebellion of his fellow slaves in Richmond, Virginia.  Prosser hanged, but has since been pardoned – and honored;
• Tblisi-born Gabriel is a monk in the Eastern Orthodox Church.  He opposed communism, publicly setting a portrait of Lenin on fire in 1965.  Arrested and tortured by the KGB, today is considered among Georgia’s national heroes.

When filmmakers decided to fill in the backstory of Bram Stoker’s monster hunter Van Helsing in 2004, they changed his given name from Abraham to Gabriel.  (Turns out there’s a reason for the switch.)

NBC’s Heroes also features a Gabriel, but Gabriel Gray is not a good guy.  He’s better known as bad guy Sylar.

You’ll find him depicted in countless works of art and referenced in pop culture, especially thanks to his horn-blowing.  And another muscular incarnation of Gabriel is headed to a theater near you in just a few weeks.  Paul Bettany plays Michael, the angel of the side of humanity while Kevin Durand’s Gabriel tries to take us out in Legion.

It is easy to see why so many parents love Gabriel.  His popularity makes for his only real drawback.