Able
Masculine · “breath”
Able is a word and, in American records, usually a spelling of a name: Abel, the second son in Genesis, whose Hebrew name means a breath or a vapour, which is the same word Ecclesiastes uses for the emptiness of everything. The English adjective arrived by a different road entirely.
How old is the name Able?
Able first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Able alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 1,000 people named Able are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Able most popular?
Able peaked in 1918, reaching #2398 nationally. Today it ranks #5045, 2,647 places below that high. See the whole 1918 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hevel to Able
The story of Able
Abel is killed in the fourth chapter of Genesis, and the name has been given continuously since despite that, in every Christian and Jewish naming tradition. English-speaking families spelled it Abel; American records of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries also carry Able, sometimes as a clerk's respelling and sometimes as the plain English word given as a virtue name, in the same spirit as Worthy and Justice. Both readings are in the record.
Meaningscholars disagree
breath, vapour, through Abel; or the English word
Hebrew Hevel means a breath or a vapour, the word that opens Ecclesiastes as vanity of vanities, and the name is generally understood as a comment on how short his life is. The English word able comes from Latin habilis, easily handled. Which a family means depends on the family.
How the name formed
- Hevel
- Abel
- Able
Related forms: הבל · Abel · Abel
Pronouncing Able
AY-bul
Two syllables, stress in front, exactly like the English word. Abel and Able are said identically.
Nicknames for Able
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 201445 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2398reached in 1918
- Change vs 2023
- +35.7%19 in 2025, from 14
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Able in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- הבל in Hebrew — transliteration
- Abel in English — spelling variant
- Abel in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Ables among us
people named Able are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 89,899 born in 2025 was named Able
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Able sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Able beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Able in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Abe is a ready short form with a long American history of its own.
- Both of its possible meanings are documented and easy to state.
- Everyone can spell it and say it after hearing it once.
- Abel is the standard spelling of the biblical name and will be written instead.
- It is an ordinary English word, so the child hears his own name in unrelated sentences.
- The biblical bearer is murdered in the fourth chapter of Genesis, which some families weigh.
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What they receive
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Able
Masculine · #5045 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ables are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Able are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Able in 2025?
- Able ranks #5045 among US boy names in 2025, with 19 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Able?
- About 1 in every 89,899 US boys born in 2025 was named Able — 19 in all.
- Will my child share the name Able with classmates?
- Able will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Able
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Silver#5045 · Daymon#5045 · Thierry#5045 · Mehmet#5045 · Tyrel#5045 · Teague#5045 · Zeyad#5045 · Gardner#5045
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Able? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Able and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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