Given name & surname · also Old French
Mabel
“one who is lovable”
Mabel is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “one who is lovable.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “one who is lovable.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Old French.
How it developed
Mabel is a short form of Maria.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Mabel through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 142,693
- 409 boys · 142,284 girls
- Most popular year
- 1915
- 3,696 babies
- 2025
- 1,522
- #201 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +70%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 1,522 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 201 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 70.2% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 3,683 in 1915. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (123). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 23,468 as a first name in 2020; 176 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Mabel’s family of names
Mabel is a short form of Maria. Mabel shares a linguistic root with Maible. In English usage, Mabel has a related form in Mable.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 15
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Mabel
- Mabel NormandAmerican actress (1893–1930)1892–1930
- MabelSwedish-British singerborn 1996
- Princess Mabel of Orange-NassauDutch princess; widow of Prince Friso of Orange-Nassauborn 1968
- Mabel StricklandAnglo-Maltese journalist, newspaper proprietor and politician (1899-1988)
- Mabel GayCuban triple jumperborn 1983
- Mabel CahillIrish tennis player (1863-1905)
- Mabel SegunNigerian writer1930–2025
- Mabel Dove DanquahGhanaian journalist, politician and writer (1905-1984)
- Mabel Taliaferroactress (1887-1979)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Mabel, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Maxine
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