Wa'el, also spelt Wael or Wail (वाईल), is an ancient Aramaic male given name. The first currently known usage of the name was found and translated at a site called Sumatar Harabesi. There is coinage and inscriptions mentioning a King of Edessa, the "Parthian Wael" and "Wael the king" (Syriac: W'L MLK') on coins around 163AD after the Parthians captured the region from the Romans. The names' usage is pre-Islamic. The name's meaning origin is unknown, however, there are a few different definitions depending on how an ancient text was translated. These known meanings are "clan", "seeking shelter", and "protector". Pronunciation differs based on the varieties of Arabic. The given name Wael has seen limited usage in certain regions; for example, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, there have been 100 years in which the name was either not recorded at all or given to fewer than five individuals—below the threshold required for inclusion in official naming statistics. The most recent such year was 1988. Overall, the name Wael remains relatively rare. In the

, the given name Wael is notably rare. As of the most recent available data, only 27 individuals bear the name nationwide. These individuals are recorded in just three states—

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. It is important to note that state-level statistics are only reported when at least five individuals share the name in a given state, which may underrepresent its presence elsewhere. Among these, Michigan has the highest relative occurrence of the name Wael, although the frequency remains extremely low—approximately one in every 629,035

males Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

.https://firstnames.blog/firstnames/wael/ Notable people with the name include: *

Wael Abbas Wael Abbas Bilal (, ) (born 14 November 1974 in Egypt) is an internationally renowned Egyptian journalist, blogger, and human rights activist, who blogs at Misr Digital (Egyptian Awareness). He reported an incident of mob harassment of women, and ...

(born 1974), Egyptian blogger *

Wael Abdelgawad Wael Abdelgawad (; born May 2, 1965) is an American-born novelist, web developer and martial artist, best known for founding one of the first online Muslim matchmaking services, and for his fictional portrayals of American Muslims. As a columnis ...

(born 1965), American author and martial artist *

Wael Al-Dahdouh Wael Hamdan Ibrahim Al-Dahdouh (; born 30 April 1970) is a Palestinian journalist and the bureau chief of Al Jazeera in Gaza City. His career, beginning in 1998, also spanned working for Al-Quds newspaper, acting as a correspondent for Voice o ...

(born 1970), Palestinian journalist * Wael Badr (born 1978), Egyptian basketball player *

Wael Ghonim Wael Ghonim ( ; born 23 December 1980) is an Internet activist and computer engineer with an interest in social entrepreneurship. In 2011, he became an international figure and galvanized pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt after his emot ...

(born 1980), Egyptian computer engineer, author and activist *

Wael Gomaa Wael Kamel Gomaa El Hawty (; born 3 August 1975) is an Egyptian retired professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is regarded as one of the best African defenders of all time. Club career Gomaa's performances with Ghazl El Mahalla ...

(born 1975), Egyptian footballer *

Wael Hallaq Wael B. Hallaq () is a Palestinian-Canadian scholar of Islamic studies and the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he has been teaching ethics, law, and political thought since 2009. He is considered a lea ...

(born 1955), Palestinian scholar of Islamic studies *

Wael Jassar Wael Jassar (; born 22 November 1976) is a Lebanese singer. Discography *''Kelmet Wada’a Beta’zebne'' *''Saat Baqoul'' *''Meshit kalass'' *''Eldonia Allimitny'' *''Metgarrinbin'' *''Zay Elaasal'' *''Fi Hadrat al Mahboub'' *2009 ''Tewaedini' ...

(born 1976), Lebanese singer *

Wael Kfoury Michel Émile Kfoury (; born 14 September 1974), known by his stage name Wael Kfoury (), is a Lebanese singer, musician, songwriter, and actor. Career Wael studied solfège at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. Commercial deals Kfoury signed ...

(born 1974), Lebanese singer * Wael Nazha (born 1974), Lebanese footballer * Wael Riad (born 1982), Egyptian footballer *

Wael Sawan Wael Sawan (Arabic: وائل صوان ; born 1974) is a Lebanese-Canadian business executive, and the CEO of Shell plc since January 2023. Early life and education Sawan was born in Beirut in 1974. He grew up in Dubai, and earned a master's de ...

(born 1974), Lebanese-Canadian business executive * Wael Talaat (1964-2025), Egyptian snooker player * Wael Zwaiter (1934-1972), Palestinian writer and translator

References

{{Reflist Arabic-language masculine given names Masculine given names