Mabelle
A feminine name from medieval French meaning "lovable".
Name Census estimates that about 224 living Americans carry the first name Mabelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mabelle today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mabelle births was 1893 (83 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mabelle. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Mabelle with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
224
~ 1 in 1,530,153 Americans
Peak year
1893
83 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,720
Tracked since 1880
Census
Mabelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 411 people with the first name Mabelle, which placed it at #23,711 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
#23,711
National first-name rank
People counted
411
411 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
38.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mabelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mabelle is White at 38.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.0%). 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 Mabelle 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 Mabelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White38.2% · 157
- Hispanic or Latino26.8% · 110
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.0% · 78
- Black or African American10.9% · 45
- Two or more races3.6% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 6
Popularity
Mabelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mabelle from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1890s, with 604 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1890s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mabelle 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 Mabelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mabelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Mabelle, while California, Michigan, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mabelle
Mabelle is a feminine given name with origins tracing back to the ancient Germanic languages. It is a variant spelling of the name Amabel or Annabelle, which derived from the combination of the Germanic elements "ana" meaning "grace" and "beald" meaning "bold" or "brave". The name essentially translates to "grace" or "favor" combined with the notion of strength or courage.
This name gained popularity during the Middle Ages across various regions of Europe, particularly in France, England, and Germany. It was often associated with nobility and aristocracy, as many noble families favored names with meanings that conveyed desirable qualities for their children.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mabelle can be found in the 12th century, when it appeared in the French epic poem "Chanson de Roland". In this literary work, Mabelle was mentioned as the name of a young noblewoman.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Mabelle. One prominent example is Mabelle Gilman Corey (1903-1994), an American journalist and author known for her work on women's rights and social issues. Another is Mabelle Arvidson (1892-1967), a Swedish-American actress who appeared in several silent films during the early 20th century.
In the realm of literature, Mabelle Heikes Justice (1904-1993) was an American writer and poet who published numerous works, including the collection "Time's Footsteps" in 1925. Additionally, Mabelle Haden Moore (1877-1928) was an American composer and musician who contributed to the development of ragtime music.
Another notable figure was Mabelle Jenks (1857-1927), an American educator and social reformer who advocated for women's rights and played a significant role in the suffrage movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the name Mabelle has seen a decline in popularity in recent decades, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of names with deep historical roots, reflecting the cultural and linguistic influences that have shaped our naming traditions over centuries.
People
Mabelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mabelle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mabelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mabelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 224 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mabelle 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 1,530,153 US residents.
Is Mabelle a common name?
We classify Mabelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,596 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mabelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Mabelle was 1893, when 83 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mabelle is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mabelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 411 people with the name Mabelle, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,711 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 Mabelle 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 Mabelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mabelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 404 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Mabelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mabelle is White at 38.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.0%). 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 Mabelle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mabelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.2% (157 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 Mabelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mabelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mabelle 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.
Is Mabelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mabelle 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 Mabelle 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 common is the name Mabelle?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.