Shem Tov Boy's nameOrigin: HebrewIn Israel: falling
AyalIn Hebrew: אייל · meaning, pronunciation and popularity in Israel
With vowel points: אַיָּלRomanization: ayál
Ayal (Hebrew: אייל) is a boy's name of Hebrew origin. 24,215 people born in Israel between 1949 and 2024 have it today, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 2024 it was given to 108 boys and ranked #169. Its peak year was 1974, with 718 babies.
- People in Israel
- 24,215
- born 1949–2024
- Babies in 2024
- 108
- rank #169
- Peak year
- 1974
- 718 babies
- USA
- —
- not in the SSA list
Writing and saying Ayal
In Hebrew letters the name is אייל, read right to left. Ayal is the Latin spelling recorded by our review; families choose their own spelling in passports, so you may also meet other forms. Wiktionary romanizes it as "ayál" (the accent marks the stressed syllable).
Meaning and origin
- a male given name, Ayal
- a male given name, Eyal
Based on a Biblical hapax found in Psalms 88:5.A Biblical hapax legomenon found in Psalms 88:5 "הָיִיתִי כְּגֶבֶר אֵין אֱיָל", traditionally understood to mean "strength, might" (compare the Targum's חֵילָא). The noun became productive in post-Biblical Hebrew, especially in medieval Hebrew poetry and prose, and also gave rise to the rare verbs אָיַל (ayál) and אייל / אִיֵּל (iyél). Its ultimate origin is…
Quoted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), unchanged.
Ayal by year in Israel
How many boys out of every 10,000 born each year have the name. For Israel it counts the people born that year who carry the name today (the CBS counts residents by year of birth, not birth registrations).
per 10,000 babies of the same sex
Related Israeli names
Spelling variants and names that look or sound close in Hebrew.
Questions about Ayal
How do you write Ayal in Hebrew?
Ayal is written אייל in Hebrew (with vowel points: אַיָּל). Hebrew is read right to left. A dictionary romanization is "ayál".
How many people in Israel are named Ayal?
24,215 people born between 1949 and 2024 carry the name אייל: 134 women and 24,081 men. The count comes from the CBS table of current first names by year of birth; years with fewer than 5 people are not published.
Is Ayal a boy's or a girl's name?
In Israel it is almost always a boy's name: 99.4% of the people named אייל are men.
What does the name Ayal mean?
English Wiktionary describes it as: "a male given name, Ayal" Etymology: Based on a Biblical hapax found in Psalms 88:5.A Biblical hapax legomenon found in Psalms 88:5 "הָיִיתִי כְּגֶבֶר אֵין אֱיָל", traditionally understood to mean "strength, might" (compare the Targum's חֵילָא). The noun became productive in post-Biblical Hebrew, especially in medieval Hebrew poetry and prose, and also gave rise to the rare verbs אָיַל (ayál) and אייל / אִיֵּל (iyél). Its ultimate origin is…
Sources
Israel: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), current first names of people born 1949–2024 by sex, population group and year of birth, processed 2026-09-27. CBS publications.