Anabel
Feminine · “lovable”
Anabel is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 9,780 girls against 35 boys since 1880.
Anabel looks like Ana joined to bel, and its likeliest real ancestor is Amabel — a medieval name from the Latin for lovable.
How old is the name Anabel?
Anabel first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Anabel alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 8,800 people named Anabel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anabel most popular?
Anabel peaked in 1887, reaching #633 nationally. Today it ranks #4265, 3,632 places below that high. See the whole 1887 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From amabilis to Anabel
The story of Anabel
Amabel was a real medieval English and Scottish name and Annabel appears in Scottish records from the twelfth century, most likely as its development. The Anna-plus-beautiful reading came later and is the one most people assume. Anabel with one n is the Spanish spelling and is well used in Spain and Latin America; it appears in American records from the nineteenth century onward.
Meaningscholars disagree
lovable; or grace and beauty
Medieval Amabel, from Latin amabilis, lovable, gave Annabel by a shift of the m to nn, which is the best-supported account. A separate reading takes it as Anna joined to bella. Both circulate.
How the name formed
- amabilis
- Amabel
- Anabel
Related forms: Anabel · Annabel · Annabella
Pronouncing Anabel
AH-nah-bel
Three syllables, first stressed. Spanish stresses the last, ah-nah-BEL.
Nicknames for Anabel
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
- 1882
- Most girls named
- 2014297 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #633reached in 1887
- Change vs 2022
- −31.3%33 in 2025, from 48
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.
Anabel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anabel in Spanish — same name
- Annabel in English — spelling variant
- Annabella in Scots — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Anabels among us
people named Anabel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 48,705 born in 2025 was named Anabel
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Anabel
- #4265
- Anabel on the 2025 chart
- #815
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Anabel went to 33 girls in 2025, but Annabel and Annabell are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 145, which makes it the 815th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,450 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 11,085 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 48,705 for Anabel itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Anabel 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
Where Anabel is headed
Anabel is easing off slowly — about 21% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Anabel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Anabel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Ana and Bel are both complete names in their own right.
- A documented medieval ancestry behind the likelier reading.
- Every letter is sounded, so Spanish speakers read it correctly at once.
- Annabel with two n's is the standard English spelling.
- The stress differs between the English and Spanish readings.
- The Anna-plus-beautiful reading is popular and probably not the origin.
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What they receive
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Anabel
Feminine · #4265 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Anabels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,800 people named Anabel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Anabel?
- Anabel is one of 3 recorded spellings. Annabel is the more common one — 91 births in 2025 against 33 for Anabel.
- How popular is the name Anabel in 2025?
- Anabel ranks #4265 among US girl names in 2025, with 33 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Anabel?
- About 1 in every 48,705 US girls born in 2025 was named Anabel — 33 in all.
- Will my child share the name Anabel with classmates?
- Anabel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Anabel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hyacinth#4265 · Halina#4265 · Michal#4265 · Sadia#4265 · Zahava#4265 · Maiah#4265 · Daysi#4265 · Corrie#4265
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anabel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Anabel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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