Annabell
Feminine · “lovable”
Annabell is the spelling that drops the final e, and the name beneath it is older and stranger than it looks. Annabel began as Amabel, a Latin word for lovable, and was reshaped in medieval Scotland by speakers who heard Anna at the front. It stood near the American top six hundred in the 1900s, and Poe had already given it its most famous line half a century before.
How old is the name Annabell?
Annabell first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Annabell alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 4,100 people named Annabell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Annabell most popular?
Annabell peaked in 1906, reaching #622 nationally. Today it ranks #5722, 5,100 places below that high. See the whole 1906 chart.
Where it comes from
From amabilis to Annabell
The story of Annabell
Amabel appears in English records from the twelfth century, and by the thirteenth Scotland has Annabella, borne by Annabella Drummond, queen consort to Robert III and mother of James I. The name stayed distinctively Scottish for centuries. Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee, published in 1849 just after his death, put it in front of every English-speaking reader and has kept it there. American use rose through the late nineteenth century and peaked in the 1900s, with Annabel, Annabell, Annabelle and Anabel all in circulation at once; the double-l, no-e spelling was one of the commonest of them in that decade.
Meaningscholars disagree
lovable; later re-heard as 'Anna the fair'
The older derivation takes the name from Latin amabilis, 'lovable', through the medieval English name Amabel, which is documented from the twelfth century. Scottish records then show Anabel and Annabella, and the shift looks like ordinary re-hearing: Amabel with an n instead of an m puts the familiar Anna at the front. The competing account builds the name directly from Anna plus Latin bella, 'beautiful'. Most reference works give the Amabel route priority and note the second as a later reinterpretation that has become part of the name's life.
How the name formed
- amabilis
- Amabel
- Annabella
- Annabell
Related forms: Annabella · Annabelle · Annabelle · Anabel
Pronouncing Annabell
AN-uh-bel
Three syllables, stress on the first, ending in a clear bell. The missing e changes nothing about the sound. A minority saying puts a secondary stress on the last syllable, an-uh-BEL, which is how the Poe line scans.
Nicknames for Annabell
High
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
- 2013267 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #622reached in 1906
- Change vs 2022
- −27.6%21 in 2025, from 29
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.
Annabell in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Annabella in Scottish — related form
- Annabelle in English — spelling variant
- Annabelle in French — same name
- Anabel in Spanish — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Oklahoma.
Annabells among us
people named Annabell are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 76,537 born in 2025 was named Annabell
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Annabell
- #5722
- Annabell on the 2025 chart
- #815
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Annabell went to 21 girls in 2025, but Annabel and Anabel 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 — 4,907 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 11,085 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 76,537 for Annabell 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
Annabell 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
Annabell beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Annabell in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is genuinely old, with a documented Scottish queen and a famous poem behind it.
- Anna, Annie, Bell and Belle are all available, covering a wide range of registers.
- It reads as a full, formal name while being warm in everyday use.
- Four spellings compete — Annabel, Annabell, Annabelle, Anabel — and hers will be assumed wrong.
- The missing final e is the least common of the four and will be added back by autocorrect.
- The Poe poem is about a girl who dies, which some families weigh and others do not.
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Annabell
Feminine · #5722 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Annabells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,100 people named Annabell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Annabell?
- Annabell is one of 3 recorded spellings. Annabel is the more common one — 91 births in 2025 against 21 for Annabell.
- How popular is the name Annabell in 2025?
- Annabell ranks #5722 among US girl names in 2025, with 21 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Annabell?
- About 1 in every 76,537 US girls born in 2025 was named Annabell — 21 in all.
- Will my child share the name Annabell with classmates?
- Annabell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Annabell
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
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Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Annabell? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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