Able
An English surname derived from the adjective "able" meaning capable, strong.
Name Census estimates that about 970 living Americans carry the first name Able. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Able today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Able births was 2014 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Able. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
970
~ 1 in 353,355 Americans
Peak year
2014
45 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,223
Tracked since 1912
Census
Able in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,625 people with the first name Able, which placed it at #6,175 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,175
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,625 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
59.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Able
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Able is Hispanic at 59.4%. The next largest groups are White (26.8%) and Black (7.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Able described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Able at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino59.4% · 1,559
- White26.8% · 704
- Black or African American7.4% · 194
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 74
- Two or more races2.2% · 57
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 37
Popularity
Able: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Able from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 346 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Able remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Able by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Able during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ables live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Able, while Pennsylvania, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Able
The name Able is an English given name derived from the Hebrew word "Hevel," meaning "breath" or "vapor." It is associated with the biblical figure Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, who was killed by his brother Cain in the Book of Genesis.
In the Hebrew Bible, Abel was a shepherd and was favored by God over his brother Cain, a farmer. When Cain's offering was rejected by God, he became jealous and killed Abel out of envy. The name Abel has come to symbolize innocence, righteousness, and being a victim of injustice.
The earliest recorded use of the name Able dates back to the late 16th century in England. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Able Sedgwick, an English puritan minister who lived from 1572 to 1658. Another notable figure in history with the name Able was Able Wantner, an 18th-century English politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 1722 to 1761.
In the 19th century, the name Able gained popularity in the United States. One notable American with the name was Able P. Upshur, who served as the 14th United States Secretary of State from 1843 to 1844 under President John Tyler.
Another prominent figure with the name Able was Able Seaman, a British sailor and Naval hero who received the Victoria Cross, the highest military honor in the British Empire, for his bravery during the Crimean War in 1854.
The name Able has also been used as a first name in literature and popular culture. One famous literary character with the name is Able Magwitch, the convict in Charles Dickens' novel "Great Expectations," who becomes the secret benefactor of the protagonist, Pip.
While the name Able is not among the most popular names today, it has a rich historical significance and has been borne by notable individuals throughout the centuries, reflecting its biblical and literary associations with innocence, righteousness, and resilience in the face of adversity.
People
Able + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Able as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Able: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Able?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 970 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Able going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 353,355 US residents.
Is Able a common name?
We classify Able as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,096 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Able most popular?
The single biggest year for Able was 2014, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Able is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Able in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,625 people with the name Able, or 0.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,175 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Able in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Able?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Able leans strongly male. 2,550 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 71 female bearers (2.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Able?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Able is Hispanic at 59.4%. The next largest groups are White (26.8%) and Black (7.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Able most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Able in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.4% (1,559 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Able in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Able a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Able in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Able still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Able in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Able can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Able?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.