Head to head · Boys' names
Abel vs Adonis
#231 vs #241 in 2025
Abel is a whisker ahead (#231 vs #241 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Abel is stepping back from its peak, Adonis is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Adonis has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Abel leads 5 measures of 6; Adonis leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Abel #604, Adonis — — Abel higher
- 1890s: Abel #629, Adonis — — Abel higher
- 1900s: Abel #732, Adonis — — Abel higher
- 1910s: Abel #711, Adonis #4179 — Abel higher
- 1920s: Abel #687, Adonis #3724 — Abel higher
- 1930s: Abel #610, Adonis #3613 — Abel higher
- 1940s: Abel #575, Adonis #3525 — Abel higher
- 1950s: Abel #507, Adonis #2704 — Abel higher
- 1960s: Abel #478, Adonis #2576 — Abel higher
- 1970s: Abel #423, Adonis #1465 — Abel higher
- 1980s: Abel #385, Adonis #1359 — Abel higher
- 1990s: Abel #372, Adonis #883 — Abel higher
- 2000s: Abel #350, Adonis #814 — Abel higher
- 2010s: Abel #178, Adonis #565 — Abel higher
- 2020s: Abel #210, Adonis #215 — Abel higher
Abel stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Abel | Adonis |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #604 | — |
| 1890s | #629 | — |
| 1900s | #732 | — |
| 1910s | #711 | #4179 |
| 1920s | #687 | #3724 |
| 1930s | #610 | #3613 |
| 1940s | #575 | #3525 |
| 1950s | #507 | #2704 |
| 1960s | #478 | #2576 |
| 1970s | #423 | #1465 |
| 1980s | #385 | #1359 |
| 1990s | #372 | #883 |
| 2000s | #350 | #814 |
| 2010s | #178 | #565 |
| 2020s | #210 | #215 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Abel
- France#98
Adonis
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Abel
breath, vapour
The Hebrew name Hevel is the same word used for "breath" or "vapour" — the fleeting thing you can see on a cold morning and then cannot. That is the traditional reading and the most widely given one. Some scholars instead connect the name to the Akkadian word for "son", and others to an old Semitic root for a herdsman, which suits the Genesis account of Abel as a keeper of flocks. The three readings have coexisted for a long time without one winning.
Hevel → Ἄβελ (Abel) → Abel
How it traveled
Abel begins as the Hebrew Hevel, the second son of Adam and Eve in Genesis and the first shepherd in the book. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek in the last centuries BC, they wrote it Ἄβελ, and Latin took it from there as Abel — the form English, Spanish, French and German all still use.
Adonis
lord
The Greek name comes from the Semitic title ʼadōn, "lord" — the same root behind Hebrew Adonai. In Greek it stopped being a title and became the name of a single mythological youth.
ʼadōn (Semitic, "lord") → Adōnis (Greek) → Adonis (Latin) → Adonis (English)
How it traveled
Adonis began as a Semitic word for "lord" and crossed into Greek as the name of a beautiful young hunter loved by Aphrodite and killed by a wild boar — a figure worshipped in rites of mourning and renewal around the eastern Mediterranean. The archaic Greek poet Sappho left a surviving fragment lamenting him, and the Romans carried the story on in Latin.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Abel
AY-bul
In English it is a homophone of the word "able". Spanish and French speakers put the stress on the second syllable instead — ah-BEL — so a bilingual family may hear both versions of the same name at the same table.
- Abe — The main English short form; it also stands alone as a given name in its own right, reached separately through Abraham.
- Abie — An older affectionate form, mostly heard within families rather than in public use.
- Ab — A clipped, informal version, used more in speech than in writing.
Adonis
uh-DON-iss
Also heard as uh-DOH-nis, with a long middle vowel. Modern Greek stresses the first syllable instead: AH-thoh-nees. In Spanish it is ah-DOH-nees.
- Don — Informal short form; also a long-established given name in its own right.
- Addy — Informal, used mostly by family and in early childhood; shared with Adam and Adrian.
- Donnie — Informal and affectionate; stands alone as a given name for older generations.
- Adi — Informal short form, common where the name is used in Spanish-speaking families.
Who has carried each name
Abel
Abel Tasman (b. 1603) — The explorer Tasmania is named after
Adonis
No documented entry for Adonis yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Abel if you want…
- a name most people already know#231 in 2025, 1,525 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsAbel is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesAbel is 2 syllables to Adonis's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAbel is on the national lists of France
Choose Adonis if you want…
- a name fewer children share#241 in 2025 — adonis will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name with more sound in itAdonis runs 3 syllables, Abel 2
- a newer arrivalAdonis entered the US charts in 1918
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Abel
Strengths
- Four letters, phonetic, and already familiar to almost every English speaker — rarely misspelled, rarely mispronounced.
- Works in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese with the same spelling, which matters in a household or extended family that uses more than one.
- A continuous written record going back to the Hebrew Bible, so it has never depended on a fashion to survive.
To consider
- The Genesis story is inseparable from the name: Abel is the brother who is killed by Cain. Most people simply register the name as biblical, but some hear the story first, and it is worth knowing that before you commit.
- In English it sounds exactly like "able", which can lead to a lifetime of small wordplay — usually mild, occasionally tiresome.
- Stress falls differently in English and Spanish, so a child may answer to two slightly different versions of their own name depending on who is speaking.
Adonis
Strengths
- A spelling almost everyone has already seen, in myth, in Shakespeare, or in the dictionary — rarely needs to be spelled out twice.
- Works unchanged in Spanish, French and Portuguese, which matters in the regions where it is strongest.
- Yields Don and Donnie, short forms that have stood alone as names for generations.
To consider
- In English, "an adonis" is a plain-language term for a very handsome man. Most people will make that connection at least once, and a boy may hear comments about his looks framed by his name — worth knowing in advance.
- The myth itself ends badly: Adonis is gored by a boar and mourned. It is a love story and a death story at the same time, which some families find rich and others would rather not carry.
- Two pronunciations circulate in the US, uh-DON-iss and uh-DOH-nis, so expect to correct people occasionally or simply to accept both.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Abel and Adonis in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Biblical names, from Noah to Naomi
- African names with radiant meanings
- Dickens names
- all guides
Where Abel and Adonis each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Abel or Adonis — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Abel or Adonis?
- Abel, in 2025: Abel ranked #231 with 1,525 babies; Adonis ranked #241 with 1,462 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Abel or Adonis?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Abel moved down 50 places; Adonis moved down 18 places.
- Which is the older name, Abel or Adonis?
- Abel was already in use when US records began in 1880; Adonis entered the US charts in 1918. On the American record, Abel is the older name.
- How many people are named Abel and Adonis?
- About 60,500 people named Abel are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 21,500 people named Adonis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Abels or Adoniss in the classroom?
- Abel will almost certainly be the only one in school. Adonis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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