🔼The name Gabriela: Summary
- Meaning
- [Mighty] Woman Of God
- Etymology
- From (1) the verb גבר (gabar), to be mighty, and (2) the word אל ('el), God.
🔼The name Gabriela in the Bible
The wonderfully pretty name Gabriela does not occur in the Bible (so it's technically not a "Biblical female character"). It's the Hebrew name Gabriel made feminine in a Latin way, and that makes it very un-Hebrew indeed. Gabriela is not a Hebrew name. But, if we would want to transliterate the Latin name Gabriela back to Hebrew, all we have to do is add the letter he to create the ah-part.
The ah-part comes from the regular feminine extension, which would turn a regular masculine noun into a feminine one. But a Hebrew name doesn't really need that because there are plenty men in the Bible who have feminine nouns for names (Ezrah), and also a woman or two who have masculine nouns for names (Tamar).
The name Gabriel translates into something like God's Guy, so making that feminine takes a trick or two.
🔼Etymology of the name Gabriela
The name Gabriela is a combination of two parts. The final element is אל (El), the abbreviated form of אלהים, Elohim, the genus God:
אל אלה
In names אל ('el) usually refers to אלהים ('elohim), that is Elohim, or God, also known as אלה ('eloah). In English, the words 'God' and 'god' exclusively refer to the deity but in Hebrew the words אל ('l) and אלה ('lh) are far more common and may express approach and negation, acts of wailing and pointing, and may even mean oak or terebinth.
The first part of our name Gabriela comes from the verb גבר (gabar), meaning to be mighty:
גבר
The verb גבר (gabar) means to be strong or mighty or to prevail. Noun גבר (geber) is one of a few words for man, perhaps comparable to our words "guy" or "dude". Adjective or noun גבור (gibbor) means mighty or strong or valiant man. Noun גבורה (gebura) means strength or might. Noun גביר (gebir) refers to an alpha male: a lord or master, and the feminine equivalents are גבירה (gebira) and גברת (geberet), mistress or queen.
🔼Gabriela meaning
Obviously, if we would want to create a feminine version of Gabriel that is actually Hebrew, we would end up with something like Geburaiel or Gebirael. The name Gabriela can't be translated, but still, it could probably be interpreted to mean Mighty Woman Of God.