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Japanese No one named Danielle appears in the Bible, but Daniel does. Danielle is the French feminine form of Daniel, the prophet whose story is told in the Book of Daniel, and it has the same meaning: “God is my judge.”
Is Danielle in the Bible?
No. The Bible has no woman named Danielle or Daniela, and no English translation uses either name. Danielle was formed in French from the masculine Daniel, and in the English-speaking world it has been in common use only since the 20th century.
Daniel himself is in the Bible, and more than one man bears the name. David’s second son, born to Abigail, is called Daniel in 1 Chronicles 3:1, and a Daniel of the priestly family of Ithamar returned from Babylon with Ezra (Ezra 8:2). The Daniel that Danielle recalls is the prophet.
What does Danielle mean in Hebrew?
Danielle means what Daniel means. The Hebrew name, Daniyyel (דָּנִיֵּאל), joins din, “to judge,” with el, “God,” to give “God is my judge.” The same verb explains the name of Dan, one of the sons of Jacob. When Rachel’s servant Bilhah bore him, Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son,” and “therefore she called his name Dan” (Genesis 30:6).
Danielle is not itself a Hebrew name. The feminine form used in Hebrew today is Daniela, written דניאלה and pronounced da-nee-EH-la.
Who was the prophet Daniel?
Daniel was one of the young men of Judah taken to Babylon to serve King Nebuchadnezzar, where he was given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar (Daniel 1:1–7). He “resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank” (Daniel 1:8), rose at court by interpreting the king’s dreams, and was made “ruler over the whole province of Babylon” (Daniel 2:48). Under King Darius, when a decree forbade prayer to any god or man but the king for thirty days, Daniel went on praying “three times a day” at his open windows facing Jerusalem (Daniel 6:10) and was thrown into the den of lions. He came out unharmed and told the king, “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths” (Daniel 6:22). The last six chapters of the book record his visions, and Jesus refers to him as “the prophet Daniel” (Matthew 24:15).
Other forms of Danielle
French also spells the name Danièle, and Dany is a French pet form. In English, Dani and Danni are common short forms. Daniela is the usual form in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Polish, Czech, Slovak and Romanian, as well as in Hebrew. Daniella is Hungarian and also used in English, Danijela is Croatian, Serbian and Slovene, and Dutch writes Daniëlle as well as Danielle.
In the United States Danielle was among the 20 most common names for girls from 1984 to 1994 and reached its highest rank, 14th, in 1987. It ranked 549th in 2025.
Danielle’s name day
Nominis, the saints and names directory of the Catholic Church in France, gives Danielle the name day of the prophet Daniel, 21 July. The Roman Martyrology commemorates Daniel on 17 December, and the Eastern churches remember him together with his three companions, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
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