Abel

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

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Abel, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Cain
• Boaz
• Caleb
• Ezekiel
• Enoch
• Ezra
• Ephraim
• Judah
• Joel
• Gideon
• Bram
• Eli

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

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 name35 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Nigeria, South Africa, Philippines

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

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

• French given name2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Spain

  Also written Ab-El

• a separate name3 spellings in the group

  Also written Ábel, Åbel

• Danish given name16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, United States

  Languages: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian

  Also written Aabel, Ábel, Åbel, Ãbęļ, Ãbel

• Indonesian given name5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, United States

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Abel, Abel', Ábel

100 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.

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.

• 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).

A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Abel mean, and where does it come from?

(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 Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

Is Abel a male or female name?

Abel is a male name. National registers that list it by sex list it as male: United States (Census Bureau, 2020), France (INSEE, 2024), Spain (INE) and Brazil (IBGE, 2022), among others.

In which country does Abel have the most bearers?

Mondonomo estimates about 146 thousand people named Abel in Mexico, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled abel.

What are other forms of the name Abel?

In the etymology graph, Aapeli is a form of the same name in other languages.

How do you pronounce Abel?

It depends on the language: in Spanish /aˈbel/ (Wiktionary); in English /ˈeɪ.bl̩/ (Wiktionary).

How common is the name Abel?

In the United States, the national register counted 63,705 people named Abel in 2020, about 1 in 5.2 thousand residents.

How common is Abel compared with other names?

In Mexico, Abel is the 181st most common given name of 193,485 given names recorded there.