Mabie last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Mabie is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Mabie.

Meaning of Mabie

A topographic name describing someone who lived in a shelter or dwelling.

Mabie, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Mabie surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mabie in America

Mabie is the 17455th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mabie surname appeared 1,615 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Mabie.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mabie to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

20102000Change (%)
Rank17455159958.73%
Count1,6151,667-3.17%
Proportion per 100k0.550.62-11.97%

The history of the last name Mabie

The surname MABIE is of Scottish origin, tracing its roots back to the 15th century. It is believed to have originated from the Scottish Gaelic "mabaidh," which means "the fortunate one" or "the lucky one." This name was initially concentrated in the Highlands and Islands regions of Scotland.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name MABIE can be found in the 16th-century manuscript "The Charters of Paisley Abbey." This document mentions a certain "John Mabey" who lived in the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, in the mid-1500s.

In the 17th century, the MABIE name appears in various parish records across Scotland. For example, the baptismal records of Kirkcudbright Parish Church in Galloway mention a "Robert Mabey" in 1642, and the Inverness Parish Records list a "Janet Mabie" in 1678.

During the 18th century, the MABIE surname began to spread beyond Scotland's borders. One notable bearer of the name was Robert Mabie (1730-1808), a Scottish merchant and landowner who settled in Virginia, United States. He played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War, serving as a colonel in the Virginia militia.

Another prominent figure was James Mabie (1766-1846), a Scottish-born American politician and lawyer. He served as a member of the New York State Assembly and was actively involved in the state's early politics.

In the 19th century, the MABIE name continued to gain prominence. Hamilton Wright Mabie (1846-1916) was an American essayist, editor, and critic who worked for several prestigious publications, including The Christian Union and The Outlook. He was also a professor of English literature at Princeton University.

Notably, the MABIE surname has also been connected to place names in Scotland. The village of Mabie, located in Dumfries and Galloway, is believed to have derived its name from the Scottish Gaelic "mabaidh," meaning "the fortunate place."

Throughout history, the MABIE surname has undergone various spelling variations, including Mabey, Maby, Mabee, and Maybee, reflecting regional dialects and scribal inconsistencies of the time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mabie

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Mabie.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Mabie was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only89.04%1,438
Non-Hispanic Black Only7.06%114
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only0.62%10
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native0.62%10
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races1.24%20
Hispanic Origin1.42%23

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Mabie has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

20102000Change (%)
White89.04%89.68%-0.72%
Black7.06%7.74%-9.19%
Asian and Pacific Islander0.62%(S)%(S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.62%(S)%(S)%
Two or More Races1.24%0.72%53.06%
Hispanic1.42%1.14%21.88%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Mabie was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Mabie, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.

Search
Search
Background shape