Islamic marriage advice and family advice

Is “Wael” a good name?

salaam,

i want to know is the name WAEL . or WAIL . a good muslim name or not and can u give few examples of people with this name pls.

- Haroon


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37 Responses »

  1. Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim

    Salaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah

    I will take on the task of answering this question. 🙂 Wael is an Arabic name meaning "rescuer" or "protector" according to several baby name websites that I googled. It is a name that predates Islam so it is quite ancient on the Arabian peninsula. It sounds like a good name with a good meaning, so inshAllah if you are blessed with a son, it will be a fine name for him to grow into. It also is not terribly common in my experience, so when you call the name in the street to tell him to come in for dinner, you won't get ten little Wael's running to you in response :).

    The most notable example of the name Wael is here at IslamicAnswers.com, where our esteemed colleague bears this name.

    Fi Aman Allah,

    Noorah,
    Editor, IslamicAnswers.com

  2. I like the name!

    Except when I was a kid some called me "Wyle coyote", "Whale", "Y.L." and other miscellaneous nicknames or mispronunciations.

    When you say the name Wael to an English speaker, they don't really hear what you are saying. Their ear does not recognize the hamza or the soft consonant at the end. Half the time they think I am saying, "What" and they repeat their question.

    But there was at least one sahabi with this name, and it also has an interesting meaning. It is a very ancient pre-Islamic Arabic name, coming from the heart of the Arabian peninsula, and meaning protector or rescuer. Some say that it also means returning for shelter, or seeking shelter.

    If you search on Google for "wael" you'll get:

    * an internationally renowned Egyptian journalist, blogger and human rights activist named Wael Abbas.

    * a Syrian actor named Wael Sharaf.

    * a famous Lebanese singer named Wael Kfoury.

    * and others including web developers, scientists, a Palestinian translator, an art gallery owner... and some strange guy who started a website called Zawaj.com, writes about Islamic subjects and does martial arts... ha ha.

    Wael
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor

    • I absolutely love the first part you wrote, about growing up and being called all different deonminations of your name like YL and Whale and so on.
      My name is Wa'el is well, I chose to leave the apostrophe(hamza) in the english version, yet I would highly advice any parent who is raising a child in the western world not to call there child wa'el. I have struggled with my name all my life in the western world and has created an onslaught of probelms for me creating all kinds of nick names and so on.
      Futheremore when I first moved to north america from the middle east, when people asked me my name and I responded yes its true a lot of times they would they think I said "What" but the worst was when they thougth I said "WHy" which created a very uncomfortable situation as i was trying to make friends and imagine this scneario:
      oh hi whats your name?
      Wa'el
      (they hear it as why) sorry man I just wanted to know your name, forget it

      in any case in arabic its a beautiful name, and for some reason north americans can say the hebrew name yael but cant say wael. who knew

      Wa'el with an apostrophe

      • Ha ha, yes I have also had this happen where people think I am saying, "What?"

        But you know what, I still give my proper name when ordering at a restaurant or anywhere else. Some Arabs choose a nice Anglicized name to use in such situations, but I always resisted that.

        Wael
        IslamicAnswers.com Editor

        • Hi guys I was born with the name Wael too. I love the name don't get me wrong. I think it's an awesome name but as you guys were saying, I was born in america and grew up in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Wow like you guys were saying since preschool I was called Y-L I never liked what they called me, even my Arab freinds would laugh at me and called me Y-L too. Then every school year a teacher would call me wahel, wahl, so I started to correct them and say no no its Y-L. Yeah I know that's really sad but true. in eight grade my math teacher thought that Y-L had nothing to do with the name Wael so she wrote on one my test good job Y-l, after that i begian to hate the name Wael and I grew tiered of the name Y-L. However when I got to high school I moved to Arizonan and on the first day of school my English teacher said to me son I can't say your name so she called me Will and from there on everyone has been calling me Will. later on this girl i like just told why are you looking at this siuation the wrong way your American and your name is forging to this land why not just change your name to Will and save yourself all this truble of explaning to people about what your name is and hot to prononce it and stuff. So I said to my self why not the next day I went to court and changed it to Will. Haha when I came to Lebanon to go to Syria the people their all called me William as soon as I went into Syria the solders asked me how to say my name and when I told my name is really Wael they laughed at my story. So my advice is if you like this name keep it as a middle name but not as a first.

    • Assalam O Alaikom
      Sir if you kindly educate me a little about that Sahaba and meaning of this name in Arabic , what does it mean in arabic? so that i get its translation please

  3. Could you clarify for an American neophyte? Is Wael pronounced:

    - why-EL; or
    - weigh-EL; or
    - WHY-el; or
    - WEIGH-el; or
    - none of the above?

    I've been pronouncing it "why-EL" in my head, but this made me realize I do not know for sure! Anyway, its meaning could not more perfectly fit YOU, IslamicAnswers.com Wael!! 🙂

    • 'Waa' as in a baby crying and 'Eel', just as its spelt: 'Waa-Eel': Wael. Well this is what Wael told me himself 2 years ago when I asked him the same question. So, no, its not 'Whale' as in the 'big blue whale', although its tempting to say, lol.

      SisterZ
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

    • Actually more like this: a baby is crying that he is sick. "Waa" he's crying, and "ill" as in not feeling well. waa'ill, waa'ill, waa'ill, he's calling me!

      And thank you, sam-i-am!

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • Oh, oops. I've been pronouncing it wrong all this time!

        Glad we had this post lol 🙂

      • Ahhhh, ok, lol.

        SisterZ
        IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • Hey, guess what. I searched "wael" on Google, and I'm number 5, up there with some very famous figures, like Wael Ghoneim who jump-started the Egyptian spring, and Wael Abbas a well-known human rights blogger. I'm also number 10, though I haven't been writing in that blog much.

        I don't know if it's good or bad to be so prominent on the web.

        Wael
        IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • Salaams,

        LOL I was actually pronouncing it (in my mind, of course) as Sister Z indicated, Wa-eel, and I was showing my husband something you wrote and when I said it, he said no, it's not pronounced that way, it's Wa-ill. I wonder how in the world he got it right, and not even having an Arab background lol!

        -Amy
        IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  4. LOL
    Sometimes it is a pain hearing your name being called something else Till youself can't recornise it any more. Like 3aamer is a beatiful name of one of my nephew, some people pronounce it ameya. I am like where did "ya" come from.
    I Bet if it was my son, and i took him to clinic i will be sitting on the bench till evening,

  5. How about names like

    Zayan
    Eqram
    Sounds kool

  6. this so funny hearing the what every one else got with the name
    to be honest i would not change many name for anything. yh people get it wrong but when they get it right it puts a smile on your face.

  7. I just came back from my holiday time in egypt and I got to know someone called wa´el 🙂 Its such a beautyful name, I decided to call my child wael. The problem is the western writing. There is no wua as one letter and -el schould be written like that: elle... To pronounce correctly.
    But maybe we find a diffrent writing of this beautyful name...its so soundful. I just love it:)

  8. i love and like this name.....ALHAMDULILAH if ALLAH will give me the blessing of a Son... i will select this name...his name will be Wael Malik.....yea cool......

  9. Salam Alaykom, Wael is a beatiful name old and modern in the same time..but what about Zaina? is it a good name?what do yoiu think?

    • I believe Zaina means pretty, beautiful, lovely, right? It's a nice name, though I prefer names that describe qualities of character. I think girls already focus too much on beauty and appearance and are not valued enough for their minds and spirits.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

      • Salaams,

        I agree with you Wael. The name should at the very least have personal meaning if not a "wish", so to speak, that the child will fulfill the attribute they are named after. Insha'Allah if I ever have another daughter, I'd like to name her Shakirah Kamzi. I was told the translation is "thankful" (Shakirah) and "my treasure" (Kamzi). I want it to be like I'm saying to Allah, "thank You for this treasure You have given me" each time I say her name.

        -Amy
        IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  10. assalam...

    i'm thinking og giving my future-born son wael khaleel. anybody knows the meaning. i'm malay-arab origin, but do not speak arabic.

    akmal,
    kuantan, malaysia

  11. My son is blessed with that name. I love it!
    But people in Europe,can't spell it right 😉 but I do 🙂
    Since I lived in Libya and Tunisie 🙂

  12. My name is Wa'el,

    When people ask me about my name and I say Wael, they say "Way... WHY,,,WHILE..."
    I love the name my mother gave me and will not change it.
    I do insist that people here in NA have to live with my name.
    Something very important though, a name like Wael can take my resume' to the recycle bin.

    Fi Amani Llaah.

  13. A christian friend of mine was born in Egypt and got this name. I recently asked him the reason for this, and he explained that his parents did it for his safety.

    Yes, we called him "YL". Another friend liked to constantly say "but why....el?"

    I must say I really like the name!

  14. Sometimes the person makes the name. I have a very accomplished colleague named Wael, and my respect for him influences my opinion of his name. Similarly my sister doesn't like her name because it's so uncommon, but I love it because for me she completely defines the name.

  15. My name is Wael
    I have experienced so many incorrect ways of saying my name, that i became use to it through out life.
    I would easily agree that every nickname that associates itself as being close to the name Wael, or
    every incorrect pronunciation of the name Wael i have heard, and most likely on numerous times.

    I have agreed through most of my younger years to be called Will, Willie, as a nickname, and it just made things easier.

    As i grew older, i had come to finally learn the meaning of my name, which i accepted to be correct: 'Rescuer/Protector'
    amongst the other definitions that have come to surface in the more recent times.

    So around the time of reflection, and the realisation that it had almost become impossible for others to correctly pronounce my name in the Western World,
    I just decided to continue pronouncing my name, with its arabic pronunciation,
    already aware that most people would not be able to say it, in its original form,
    so i just allow them to choose what comes easier to them,
    and i just nod my head,
    saying Yes! that is how you say it.

    • Good for you brother. Nice to meet you. Are you Egyptian? In my experience it's usually Egyptians who have this name, though I once met a Saudi named Wael.

      Wael
      IslamicAnswers.com Editor

  16. Hy,,
    My name is wail ...
    can u tell whats the meaning wail according to islam ..
    i know wail is a sahabi name ...
    bt i want to know my name meaning according to islam..

  17. Wael Ibn hejr Al hadrami was a companion of the prophet pace upon him
    وائل بن حجر الحضرمي

    Plus its my name

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