Long before Shakespeare made his famous statement through Juliet’s musings about roses smelling as sweetly, no matter the name, God gave us a much deeper perspective on names in His Word. There are a few scant historical and literary references to the name Ariel, including the Bible, since Ariel is a masculine Hebrew name, however much the Disney version has given it a feminine grace. Ariel is the androgynous spirit in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and it was also the name of one of the ships of the great American naval hero John Paul Jones. The meaning of the name Ariel is “Lion of God” and *that’s* what’s prompted my lifelong reflection on the power of names.