Gabriela — Name Day, Meaning & Origin

Female Polish given name · rank 24 among female names (2024)

A Polish female name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my strength".

Pronunciation

/ɡa.ˈbrjɛ.la/ · gah-BRYEH-lah

Meaning

Gabriela is the feminine form of Gabriel, understood as "God is my strength" or "man of God". The name carries associations of protection, devotion and spiritual power.

Origin & history

The name has Hebrew roots and is linked to the archangel Gabriel, the messenger of biblical tradition. It entered Poland with Christianity and gained wider popularity in modern times, especially from the second half of the twentieth century. Today it is one of the names frequently chosen by parents for their daughters.

Etymology

The name derives from the Hebrew Gavri'el, combining the element gever ("man, strong one") with El ("God"), giving the sense "God is my strength".

Declension (Polish cases)

Nominative	Gabriela
Genitive	Gabrieli
Dative	Gabrieli
Accusative	Gabrielę
Instrumental	Gabrielą
Locative	Gabrieli
Vocative	Gabrielo

Name day (imieniny)

In Poland, Gabriela celebrates its name day on 27 February, 19 December.

Diminutives

Gabrysia, Gabi, Gaba, Gabrysieńka, Gabuś, Ela.

Forms in other languages

Equivalents in other languages include Gabriella and Gabrielle (English, French, Italian, Hungarian), Gabriele (German) and Gabrijela (Croatian, Slovene).

Notable people named Gabriela

Gabriela Zapolska — Polish writer and playwright, author of "The Morality of Mrs Dulska".

Gabriela Mistral — Chilean poet and winner of the 1945 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Gabriela Sabatini — Argentine tennis player, a leading competitor of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Popularity

Gabriela is a name that consistently appears in Poland's top twenty for baby girls.