Girl's name
Mabel
Say it MAY-bul
Latin origin lovable
2 syllables
Where Mabel is loved, common and rare
Common across the UK, Ireland and four more places. Rare in Canada, Cologne, the Netherlands and two more places.
1 in 166 girls born in England and Wales in 2025
England and Wales 16thScotland 58thNorthern Ireland 62nd
LovedCommonRare
Every place
In 14 of the 40 official lists, among them England and Wales (16th), Scotland (58th) and Northern Ireland (62nd).
Show all 14 placesShow less
| Place | Rank | Girls | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 16th 2025 | 1,527 | 1 in 166 |
| Scotland | 58th 2025 | 70 | 1 in 256 |
| Northern Ireland | 62nd 2025 | 32 | 1 in 228 |
| New Zealand | 66th 2025 | 56 | rank only |
| South Australia state | 84th 2025 | 19 | rank only |
| Victoria state | 92nd 2025 | 69 | rank only |
| New South Wales state | 94th 2025 | 77 | rank only |
| Ireland | 94th 2025 | 52 | 1 in 406 |
| Ontario province | 227th 2024 | 53 | about 1 in 1,028 |
| British Columbia province | 240th 2023 | 13 | about 1 in 920 |
| Cologne city | 419th 2023 | 2 | about 1 in 3,072 |
| The Netherlands | 541st 2025 | 23 | about 1 in 2,653 |
| Italy | 648th 2024 | 17 | 1 in 10,539 |
| Switzerland | 1414th 2025 | 3 | 1 in 11,331 |
Rare, below the listed names: Quebec, Queensland, France, Austria, Berlin, Munich, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Catalonia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel.
Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).
Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.
Sources: Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); NISRA (Northern Ireland); Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), SmartStart (New Zealand); SA Attorney-General's Department, Births, Deaths and Marriages (data.sa.gov.au) (South Australia); Registry of BDM Victoria (DataVic) (Victoria); NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages (Data.NSW) (New South Wales); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland). How we count, and every source
About the name
A clipping of Amabel, Mabel goes back to Latin amābilis, 'lovable'.
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Two syllables, MAY-bul, give it a warm, old-fashioned charm. Amabel is the fuller form, Mable is a variant spelling, and Mabelle is another.
Mabel ranks high in England and Wales and is used in Scotland and Northern Ireland, while it is rare in the Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland. It is a true vintage revival: in the Ontario and British Columbia records it peaked in 1927, and the median bearer there was born in 1939. Today it is rising in every place where a trend is recorded, as parents bring back names from their great-grandparents' generation.
Meaning, origin, pronunciation
- Pronounced
- MAY-bul, 2 syllables
- Meaning
lovable
- Origin
- Latin
- Other spellings
- Amabel
- Mable
- Emmabel
- Mabli
- Mabelle
Etymology
Clipping of Amabel, from Latin amābilis (“lovable”).
From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.
Over time
Over five years: rising in 8 of 8 regions, falling in none.
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Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.
Ten years of ranks
Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.
| Region | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 210 | 162 | 106 | 98 | 68 | 58 | 50 | 40 | 37 | 16 |
| Scotland | 453 | 347 | 275 | 322 | 257 | 205 | 195 | 93 | 83 | 58 |
| Northern Ireland | 432 | 273 | 336 | 158 | 206 | 175 | 142 | 93 | 62 | |
| Ireland | 476 | 289 | 361 | 296 | 264 | 322 | 195 | 202 | 149 | 94 |
| Ontario | 514 | 437 | 347 | 438 | 282 | 502 | 343 | 215 | 227 | |
| British Columbia | 246 | 196 | 370 | 284 | 154 | 202 | 355 | 240 | ||
| New South Wales | 94 | |||||||||
| Victoria | 92 | |||||||||
| South Australia | 130 | 196 | 78 | 75 | 84 | |||||
| New Zealand | 66 | |||||||||
| France | 3683 | 3591 | 3634 | 3605 | 3650 | 3443 | ||||
| The Netherlands | 785 | 736 | 591 | 541 | ||||||
| Rostock | 199 | 202 | 197 | 158 | ||||||
| Italy | 684 | 533 | 648 |
England and Wales, 1996 to 2025
| Year | Rank | Girls | per 100,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 16 | 1,527 | 602.9 |
| 2024 | 37 | 1,113 | 431.4 |
| 2023 | 40 | 1,051 | 409.6 |
| 2022 | 50 | 964 | 365.8 |
| 2021 | 58 | 885 | 322.9 |
| 2020 | 68 | 768 | 286.1 |
| 2019 | 98 | 531 | 189.6 |
| 2018 | 106 | 491 | 170.3 |
| 2017 | 162 | 345 | 115.4 |
| 2016 | 210 | 250 | 81.4 |
| 2015 | 216 | 243 | 78.9 |
| 2014 | 245 | 205 | 66.8 |
| 2013 | 265 | 179 | 58.0 |
| 2012 | 312 | 155 | 48.1 |
| 2011 | 360 | 132 | 41.1 |
| 2010 | 386 | 117 | 36.4 |
| 2009 | 471 | 87 | 27.8 |
| 2008 | 378 | 118 | 37.4 |
| 2007 | 534 | 69 | 22.5 |
| 2006 | 440 | 91 | 30.4 |
| 2005 | 668 | 46 | 16.0 |
| 2004 | 626 | 48 | 16.8 |
| 2003 | 637 | 45 | 16.1 |
| 2002 | 656 | 41 | 15.3 |
| 2001 | 1025 | 20 | 7.5 |
| 2000 | 1250 | 15 | 5.5 |
| 1999 | 1160 | 17 | 6.0 |
| 1998 | 995 | 21 | 7.3 |
| 1997 | 1365 | 13 | 4.4 |
| 1996 | 1112 | 17 | 5.7 |
Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.
Ontario and British Columbia since 1925
Half of the babies named Mabel in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 1939. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 1927, at 404.6 per 100,000 girls.
Babies named Mabel per 100,000 girls born in Ontario and British Columbia, by five-year period. Her 1927 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.
Sources: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (1917-2024), OGL-Ontario; BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (1924-2023), OGL-BC.
Sister names for Mabel
1 in 284 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Mabel.
1 in 132 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Mabel.
1 in 326 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Mabel.
1 in 335 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Mabel.
1 in 484 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Mabel.
1 in 185 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Mabel.
1 in 203 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Mabel.
1 in 346 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Mabel.
1 in 162 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Mabel.
1 in 187 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Mabel.
Middle names for Mabel
1 in 71 in Scotland
Mabel Olivia
2-4 beats · initials MO
Changes the beat after Mabel: 2 syllables, then 4 syllables.
1 in 78 in Northern Ireland
Mabel Emily
2-3 beats · initials ME
Changes the beat after Mabel: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
Mabel Grace
2-1 beats · initials MG
Changes the beat after Mabel: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 99 in Scotland
Mabel Sophia
2-3 beats · initials MS
Changes the beat after Mabel: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 88 in Scotland
Mabel Amelia
2-4 beats · initials MA
Changes the beat after Mabel: 2 syllables, then 4 syllables.
1 in 162 in England and Wales
Mabel Evelyn
2-3 beats · initials ME
Changes the beat after Mabel: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 214 in Northern Ireland
Mabel Rose
2-1 beats · initials MR
Changes the beat after Mabel: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 311 in Ireland
Mabel Maria
2-3 beats · initials MM
Changes the beat after Mabel: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
Same style as Mabel
Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.
1 in 484 in Scotland
91% alike: moves with Mabel across countries and decades.
1 in 187 in Northern Ireland
90% alike: moves with Mabel across countries and decades.
1 in 346 in Ireland
90% alike: moves with Mabel across countries and decades.
1 in 232 in Scotland
89% alike: moves with Mabel across countries and decades.
1 in 132 in Northern Ireland
89% alike: moves with Mabel across countries and decades.
1 in 101 in Scotland
89% alike: moves with Mabel across countries and decades.
1 in 284 in England and Wales
89% alike: moves with Mabel across countries and decades.
1 in 239 in England and Wales
88% alike: moves with Mabel across countries and decades.
Famous people named Mabel
Mabel Normand, Mabel, Mabel Strickland, Mabel Gay, Mabel Cahill, Mabel Segun, Mabel Dove Danquah and Mabel Taliaferro.
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American actress (1893–1930) 1892 to 1930
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Swedish-British singer born 1996
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Anglo-Maltese journalist, newspaper proprietor and politician (1899-1988)
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Cuban triple jumper born 1983
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Irish tennis player (1863-1905)
-
Nigerian writer 1930 to 2025
-
Ghanaian journalist, politician and writer (1905-1984)
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Actress (1887-1979)
People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.
Questions about Mabel
5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.
Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Mabel?
Her best rank is No. 16 in England and Wales in 2025, about 1 in 166 girls. She is in the published lists of 14 of our 40 regions.
What does Mabel mean?
Wiktionary glosses Mabel as "lovable".
How do you pronounce Mabel?
MAY-bul, with 2 syllables.
Is Mabel getting more popular?
Over five years: rising in 8 of 8 regions, falling in none.
Which sister names go with Mabel?
The deck's top five sisters for Mabel: Olive, Elsie, Eleanor, Harriet and Fern. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.