Hebrew name meaning friend of God; a biblical name borne by Moses' father-in-law.
Reuel is one of those biblical names that has drifted nearly out of common use while remaining completely alive to those who find it. Its Hebrew roots are transparent: *re'u* (friend) combined with *El* (God), yielding the meaning 'friend of God' — a formulation that appears in the Hebrew Bible as a name of deep spiritual significance. Reuel appears in Genesis and Exodus as the father-in-law of Moses, a Midianite priest who also bears the name Jethro; the dual naming suggests either different textual traditions or separate identities, and biblical scholars have debated the question for centuries.
In English-speaking Puritan communities of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Reuel enjoyed modest use alongside other Old Testament names — the Puritans mined Exodus and Numbers as deliberately as modern parents mine Scrabble dictionaries, preferring names with theological freight and minimal pagan association. The name appears in New England colonial records and in early American census data, particularly in dissenting Protestant families who felt no need to stop at Genesis. Perhaps Reuel's most famous modern bearer — though he rarely used the name publicly — was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, who received the name at his 1892 baptism in honor of his grandfather.
R. and that the R in the middle stood for Reuel gives the name an unexpected literary shimmer. For parents drawn to biblical weight, unconventional distinction, and the slight pleasure of a name that requires one explanation and then becomes unforgettable, Reuel has everything. It is ancient, two syllables, effortlessly spelled once heard, and means exactly what any parent would want: a friend of God.