Gable
Masculine · “the end wall of a roof”
Gable is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 804 boys against 6 girls since 1880.
Gable is a roof, or it is Gabriel, and the two roads are hard to separate. English gable comes from an Old Norse word for the end wall of a building; the German surname Gabel and its relatives come from short forms of Gabriel. Both produced families called Gable, and both crossed to America.
How old is the name Gable?
Gable first appears in US birth records in 1909 — 116 years ago. The typical Gable alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 700 people named Gable are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gable most popular?
Gable peaked in 1909, reaching #1440 nationally. Today it ranks #5208, 3,768 places below that high. See the whole 1909 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From gafl to Gable
The story of Gable
The gable end is the most visible part of a building, which made it a landmark and a byname; the word itself came into English twice, from Norse in the north and from French in the south. Meanwhile Gabriel produced pet forms across German-speaking Europe that hardened into surnames. Gable crossed to America from both directions and became a first name in the nineteenth century, in the ordinary American way, and it has been rare and steady since.
Meaningscholars disagree
the end wall of a roof; or from Gabriel
Old Norse gafl and Old French gable give the architectural word and a locational surname for someone living by a gabled house. Separately, German and Yiddish short forms of Gabriel produced Gabel and Gabler as family names. American Gables descend from both.
How the name formed
- gafl
- gable
- Gable
Related forms: Gabel · Gabriel
Pronouncing Gable
GAY-bul
Two syllables, stress in front, said exactly like the roof. There is no other reading in English.
Nicknames for Gable
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
- 1909
- Most boys named
- 201022 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1440reached in 1909
- Change vs 2023
- +63.6%18 in 2025, from 11
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.
Gable in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gabel in German — related form
- Gabriel in English — related form
Gables among us
people named Gable are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 94,893 born in 2025 was named Gable
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
Gable 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
Gable beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Gable in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Gabe is a ready short form and is currently well liked on its own.
- The meaning is a piece of a building that anyone can point at.
- It works as a surname and a first name, which suits families using both.
- It is a well-known Hollywood surname, which is the first association for many adults.
- Gable and Gabriel are close enough that people assume the second.
- Its two possible origins are unrelated, so the meaning depends on the family.
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What they receive
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Gable
Masculine · #5208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Gables are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Gable are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gable in 2025?
- Gable ranks #5208 among US boy names in 2025, with 18 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Gable?
- About 1 in every 94,893 US boys born in 2025 was named Gable — 18 in all.
- Will my child share the name Gable with classmates?
- Gable will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Gable
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rodger#5208 · Eusebio#5208 · Boy#5208 · Randal#5208 · Jessy#5208 · Kelby#5208 · Alexi#5208 · Jens#5208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gable? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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