# Abel (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/abel/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “abel”, “breath”, “vapor”, “vanity”, “son” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈeɪ.bl̩/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 66,198 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 66,037 / 161 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,663, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Abel, from Old English Ābel, from Latin Abel, from Ancient Greek Ἅβελ (Hábel), from Biblical Hebrew הֶבֶל (Héḇel, “Abel”), possibly from the homonymous word הֶבֶל (heḇel, “breath, vapor; vanity”) or from Akkadian 𒌉𒍑 (ablu, “son”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 7 | 10,194 |
| 1993 | 5 | 13,446 |
| 2003 | 5 | 15,800 |
| 2004 | 6 | 14,190 |
| 2009 | 5 | 17,311 |
| 2011 | 8 | 12,168 |
| 2013 | 7 | 13,162 |
| 2015 | 10 | 10,153 |
| 2016 | 6 | 14,341 |
| 2018 | 11 | 9,154 |
| 2021 | 12 | 8,465 |
| 2022 | 7 | 12,251 |
| 2023 | 5 | 15,204 |
| 2024 | 8 | 11,130 |
| 2025 | 5 | 14,959 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,508 | 238 |
| 2012 | 1,952 | 192 |
| 2013 | 2,238 | 180 |
| 2014 | 2,573 | 164 |
| 2015 | 3,245 | 124 |
| 2016 | 3,045 | 137 |
| 2017 | 2,714 | 145 |
| 2018 | 2,682 | 146 |
| 2019 | 2,469 | 158 |
| 2020 | 2,131 | 181 |
| 2021 | 1,956 | 195 |
| 2022 | 1,769 | 215 |
| 2023 | 1,658 | 220 |
| 2024 | 1,635 | 220 |
| 2025 | 1,525 | 231 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3 | 5,581 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 72 | 501 |
| 2012 | 66 | 549 |
| 2013 | 107 | 379 |
| 2014 | 134 | 335 |
| 2015 | 163 | 290 |
| 2016 | 247 | 227 |
| 2017 | 276 | 196 |
| 2018 | 235 | 220 |
| 2019 | 226 | 224 |
| 2020 | 242 | 210 |
| 2021 | 301 | 178 |
| 2022 | 300 | 171 |
| 2023 | 345 | 153 |
| 2024 | 302 | 166 |
| 2025 | 261 | 195 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Е́йбъл
- Catalan: Abel
- Chinese: 阿貝爾 /阿贝尔, 亞伯 /亚伯
- Danish: Abel
- Dutch: Abel
- Finnish: Aapeli
- French: Abel
- German: Abel
- Hindi: एबल
- Japanese: アベル
- Korean: 아벨
- Norwegian: Abel
- Polish: Abel
- Portuguese: Abel
- Russian: Э́йбел
- Spanish: Abel
- Swedish: Abel

## People named Abel

- Abel Tasman, Dutch seafarer, explorer and merchant (1603–1659)
- Abel Gance, French film director and producer, writer and actor (1889-1981)
- Abel Aguilar, Colombian association football player
- Abel Ferrara, American film director
- Abel Balbo, Argentine footballer and manager
- Abel Bonnard, French writer, poet and politician
- Abel Braga, Brazilian footballer and manager
- Abel Muzorewa, first and only prime minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (1979-80)
- Abel-François Villemain, French politician and writer (1790-1870)
- Abel Hermant, French writer (1861-1950)
- Abel Kiviat, American athletics competitor
- Abel Laudonio, Argentine actor and Olympic boxer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.