Meriel or Merial

[Cassie2008]

Hi
Would anyone have any idea of the name Meriel having Jewish links of any kind? The name has been passed as a middle name through the family.

[salcat]

Found this when I googled

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Meriel

No obvious Jewish links that I can see.

S

[hughar]

Neither shows up in the list of Jewish first names at http://www.behindthename.com/glossary/view/jewish_names

[Cassie2008]

Hi Thanks very much for replying. I just thought I would try that avenue. We havent been able to find the origin of the name. Its been passed down the generations. Thanks again.

[hughar]

The Oxford Names Companion, 2nd edition, OUP, 1998 says:

Meriel (f.) English: variant of Muriel; both forms are 19th-century revivals of an older Celtic name. Of the two forms, Meriel was never as popular as Muriel, but for that reason seems to have escaped the current somewhat old-fashioned image of the latter name.

[Cassie2008]

The Oxford Names Companion, 2nd edition, OUP, 1998 says:

Meriel (f.) English: variant of Muriel; both forms are 19th-century revivals of an older Celtic name. Of the two forms, Meriel was never as popular as Muriel, but for that reason seems to have escaped the current somewhat old-fashioned image of the latter name.

Thanks very much for that. Its a name thats been used through generations in the family, so we were curious about it.