Anabela
Feminine · “lovable”
Annabel may have nothing to do with Anna. The Scottish name appears in the twelfth century and looks very much like Amabel — from the Latin amabilis, lovable — worn down and then reshaped by people who assumed Anna must be in there somewhere. Anabela is the Portuguese spelling, with one n and one l, which is how Portuguese writes it and has for centuries.
How old is the name Anabela?
Anabela first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Anabela alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 500 people named Anabela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anabela most popular?
Anabela peaked in 1973, reaching #3971 nationally. Today it ranks #14942, 10,971 places below that high. See the whole 1973 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From amabilis to Anabela
The story of Anabela
Annabel is Scottish and medieval, carried by a queen of Scotland in the fourteenth century, and it spread from there into English use. Portugal and Brazil have their own Anabela, spelled with single consonants because Portuguese has no use for the doubles, and it is entirely standard there. American records carry this spelling from 1970 in small numbers, arriving with Portuguese and Brazilian families and, more recently, with parents who simply prefer the leaner shape.
Meaningscholars disagree
lovable, or grace and beauty
The older and better-supported reading derives the name from Amabel, from the Latin amabilis, lovable. The popular reading takes it as Anna plus the Italian bella, beautiful — which is what the letters look like now and what a great many families mean by it. The first is probably the history and the second is certainly the current sense.
How the name formed
- amabilis
- Amabel
- Annabel
- Anabela
Related forms: Anabela · Annabella · Anabel · Annabel
Pronouncing Anabela
ah-nah-BEH-lah
Four syllables, stress on the third. Portuguese gives the unstressed vowels a lighter quality than Spanish does, so the name moves faster there than the spelling suggests.
Nicknames for Anabela
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
- 1970
- Most girls named
- 201432 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3971reached in 1973
- Change vs 2024
- −50.0%5 in 2025, from 10
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.
Anabela in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anabela in Portuguese — same name
- Annabella in Italian — same name
- Anabel in Spanish — same name
- Annabel in Scots — same name
Anabelas among us
people named Anabela are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 321,453 born in 2025 was named Anabela
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Anabela
- #14942
- Anabela on the 2025 chart
- #713
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Anabela went to 5 girls in 2025, but Annabella and Anabella are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 249, which makes it the 713th most-given girls’ name of the year — 14,229 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 6,455 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 321,453 for Anabela 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
The Madaleine test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Anabela's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Madaleine climbed just as high around 1923, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Madaleine's path sketches the road Anabela is walking now.
Anabela 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
Anabela beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Anabela in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Ana and Bela are both complete standing names, so it shortens two ways.
- It is standard in Portuguese rather than an American simplification.
- Four open syllables that sit well after almost any surname.
- The older etymology is genuinely interesting and worth a sentence.
- Annabella and Annabel are both commoner in English-speaking countries and will be written instead.
- The single consonants read as a misspelling to English speakers who do not know Portuguese.
- Its meaning depends on which of two readings is taken, and both are current.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Anabela to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Anabela? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Anabela
Feminine · #14942 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Anabelas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Anabela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Anabela?
- Anabela is one of 3 recorded spellings. Annabella is the more common one — 163 births in 2025 against 5 for Anabela.
- How popular is the name Anabela in 2025?
- Anabela ranks #14942 among US girl names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Anabela?
- About 1 in every 321,453 US girls born in 2025 was named Anabela — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Anabela with classmates?
- Anabela will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Anabela
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hester#14942 · Lyda#14942 · Zula#14942 · Zona#14942 · Ula#14942 · Belva#14942 · Lucetta#14942 · Leala#14942
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anabela? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Anabela and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle