Anabela
Of Portuguese origin meaning "blossoming beauty" or "beautiful flower".
Name Census estimates that about 508 living Americans carry the first name Anabela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anabela today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anabela births was 2014 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anabela. 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
508
~ 1 in 674,713 Americans
Peak year
2014
32 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,579
Tracked since 1970
Popularity
Anabela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anabela from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 181 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anabela 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 Anabela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anabelas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Florida, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Anabela, while Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anabela
The name Anabela is a feminine given name of Portuguese origin. It is a compound name, derived from the Greek prefix "ana" meaning "again" or "back", and the Latin word "bella" meaning "beautiful". The name essentially translates to "beautiful again" or "renewed beauty".
In Portuguese culture, the name Anabela gained popularity during the late medieval period, around the 15th century. It was often bestowed upon daughters born after a period of struggle or hardship, symbolizing the renewal of hope and the return of beauty and joy into the family's life.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Anabela can be found in the historical records of the Portuguese royal court during the reign of King Afonso V (1432-1481). Anabela de Sousa, born in 1456, was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella of Portugal and is mentioned in several court documents from that era.
During the Age of Discovery, as Portuguese explorers ventured across the seas, the name Anabela traveled with them. Anabela Fernandes (1510-1575) was a pioneering woman who accompanied her husband, a navigator, on several voyages to the Americas and played a crucial role in establishing early Portuguese settlements in Brazil.
In the realm of literature, the name Anabela gained prominence with the publication of the famous 19th-century Portuguese novel "Os Maias" by Eça de Queirós. One of the central characters, Anabela Teodora dos Reis, embodied the virtues of beauty, grace, and resilience, contributing to the name's enduring popularity.
Anabela Milhazes (born 1957) is a renowned contemporary Brazilian artist known for her vibrant and colorful abstract paintings, which often incorporate elements of Portuguese and Brazilian cultural motifs. Her work has been exhibited globally and is celebrated for its unique fusion of traditional and modern styles.
Another notable figure is Anabela Rodrigues (born 1959), a Portuguese singer-songwriter and actress who has had a prolific career spanning over four decades. She has released numerous albums and has starred in several Portuguese films and television series, becoming a cultural icon in her home country.
People
Anabela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anabela 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
Anabela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anabela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 508 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anabela 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 674,713 US residents.
Is Anabela a common name?
We classify Anabela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 524 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anabela most popular?
The single biggest year for Anabela was 2014, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anabela is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Anabela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anabela in the SSA data are female. 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.
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.