Anabell
Feminine · “lovable”
Anabell drops an n and a letter from the end, and the name it comes from is probably not built on Anna at all. The likeliest parent is a medieval name from a Latin word about being lovable, which also gives English the word amiable, and which was worn down and then reshaped by people who assumed they were hearing Anna with something added.
How old is the name Anabell?
Anabell first appears in US birth records in 1922 — 103 years ago. The typical Anabell alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 1,400 people named Anabell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anabell most popular?
Anabell peaked in 2013, reaching #2032 nationally. See the whole 2013 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From A Latin adjective about being lovable to Anabell
The story of Anabell
The Latin adjective is the same one behind amiable and amicable, and it produced a medieval woman's name that was in ordinary use in England and Scotland for several centuries. It then wore down in speech, and once the first syllable had shifted, English speakers heard a name they recognized at the front and an ending they recognized at the back, and reshaped the whole thing accordingly. That process has a name and is entirely routine, and its effect here was to convert a name meaning lovable into what looks like a compound of two other names. The original form disappeared almost completely; the reshaped one is now among the more fashionable women's names in the English-speaking world.
Meaningscholars disagree
lovable
If the source is the medieval name, the reading comes from a Latin adjective about being worthy of love, and that is the majority view. If it is a compound of Anna with a French ending meaning beautiful, which is the popular account, the reading is different. The evidence favors the first, and the second is what almost everybody believes.
How the name formed
- A Latin adjective about being lovable
- A medieval English and Scottish woman's name
- Reshaped into what looks like Anna plus an ending
- Anabell as one of many modern spellings
Related forms: Annabelle · Annabella
Pronouncing Anabell
AN-uh-bel
Three syllables with the main stress on the first and a lighter one on the last. The single n and the single l in this spelling change nothing audible; every version of this name is said the same way.
Nicknames for Anabell
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
- 1922
- Most girls named
- 201395 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2032reached in 2013
- Change vs 2023
- −58.3%5 in 2024, from 12
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.
Anabell in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Annabelle in French — spelling variant
- Annabella in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Anabells among us
people named Anabell are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Anabell sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Ana and Bell are two complete and currently fashionable names from one certificate.
- The sound is universally familiar and needs no explaining.
- It carries a genuine medieval history behind a very modern reputation.
- At least five spellings are in wide use and this is among the rarer ones.
- The popular account of the meaning is probably wrong, which is worth knowing before repeating it.
- It will be corrected to Annabelle by nearly everybody who writes it.
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Anabell
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Anabells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Anabell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Anabell in 2025?
- Anabell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Anabell with classmates?
- Anabell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anabell? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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