Abel

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Abel is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name566K records spelled Abel35 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Netherlands, Nigeria

  Languages: English, Western Frisian, German

  Also written Aebel, Ábel, A'Bel, Àbel, Abèl

• French given name157K records spelled Abel2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Spain, Guadeloupe

  Also written Ab-El

• a separate given name40K records spelled Abel3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ecuador, Ethiopia, India

  Also written Ábel, Åbel

• Norwegian Bokmål given name8.4K records spelled Abel16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, Denmark, United States, Peru

  Languages: Norwegian Bokmål, Danish, Norwegian

  Also written Aabel, Ábel, Ãbęļ, Åbel, Ãbel

• Indonesian given name7.8K records spelled Abel5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Philippines, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Abel, Abel', Ábel

99 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Abel is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Abel represents the archetype of the innocent victim and the righteous martyr; in Christian theology, his blood is often compared to the blood of Jesus, though Jesus's blood is described as speaking 'better things' than Abel's cry for justice.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• The name likely derives from the Hebrew 'Hevel', meaning 'breath', 'vapor', or 'vanity', symbolizing the transience of his life; alternative theories suggest a connection to the Akkadian 'ablu', meaning 'son'.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• a) Abel (Greek/Latin) = from Hebrew “Hebel”, son of Adams. b) Diminutive from Hebrew “ab” = father. c) Short form of Abraham = from Hebrew abra(h)am “the father is big”.

  as a name·The Origin of Jewish Family Names: Morphology and History

• A classic biblical name symbolizing breath or vapor, historically associated with innocence and gentleness.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• In English, from Hebrew Abel, probably ‘son’; a common 13th-century Christian name; first attested William Abel 1197 P (Ess)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Abelb. 1218DEKing of Denmark
• Abel Tasmanb. 1603NLDutch seafarer, explorer and merchant (1603–1659)
• Abel Ganceb. 1889FRFrench film director and producer, writer and actor (1889-1981)
• Georges Auricb. 1899FRnot in their usual nameFrench composer
• José López Portillob. 1920MXnot in their usual name58th President of Mexico
• Abel Pachecob. 1933CRPresident of Costa Rica (2002-2006)
• Abel Ferrarab. 1951USAmerican film director
• Abel Folkb. 1959ESSpanish film actor
• Abel Xavierb. 1972MZPortuguese-Mozambican association football player
• The Weekendb. 1990CAnot in their usual nameCanadian singer and songwriter (born 1990)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,497 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Abel?

We estimate roughly 161 thousand people bear Abel (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Abel have the most bearers?

Abel is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled abel.

How common is Abel compared with other names?

In Argentina, Abel is the 210th most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Abel a male or female name?

Abel is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Abel mean?

Recorded meaning: (i) from the male personal name Abel, from Hebrew Hevel, apparently based on hevel “breath”; (ii) from the German male personal name Abel, a pet-form of Albert