girl's name
Mable
MAY-bul
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 53,570
Mable means lovable, and the name lost its front end — it began as Amabel, and English wore the initial A away entirely, which is the same process that turned an ewt into a newt.
- Mable is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1922, when 1,629 babies were given the name.
- After peaking in the 1920s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
- Today about 1 in 45,417 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Mable over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,544 |
| 1890s | 3,184 |
| 1900s | 5,158 |
| 1910s | 11,757 |
| 1920s | 14,096 |
| 1930s | 7,826 |
| 1940s | 4,927 |
| 1950s | 2,659 |
| 1960s | 950 |
| 1970s | 308 |
| 1980s | 185 |
| 1990s | 106 |
| 2000s | 157 |
| 2010s | 261 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 348 |
What Mable means
Mable means lovable. The Latin adjective behind it describes someone who can be loved, so the sense is capacity for affection rather than beauty or worth.
Where Mable comes from
Mable respells Mabel, a worn-down form of the medieval Amabel, from the Latin amabilis — lovable, from amare, to love. Losing an initial unstressed syllable is ordinary in English; the reverse process, where a word absorbs the n from an, gave newt and nickname. Mabel was rare by the eighteenth century and revived hard after Charlotte Yonge's 1854 novel The Heir of Redclyffe. Our data marks the name reviving again now.
Mable in use
Mable peaked in the United States in 1922, when 1,629 babies were registered, and our data marks it reviving. It now ranks 1868th in England and Wales on 16 births and 2450th in the United States on 73, across 53,570 lifetime births in three of the seven markets we track. England and Wales set its own peak in the most recent year we hold, which is what a revival looks like from the front.
How popular is Mable?
In 2025, Mable was given to 73 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Mable is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Mable
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Mable also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Mable over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Mable in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Mable
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Mable — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Mable
What does the name Mable mean?
Lovable — the Latin amabilis, from amare, to love.
Was it originally Amabel?
Yes. English wore the initial unstressed A away entirely.
Is it Mable or Mabel?
Mabel is the standard form; Mable is a respelling with its own long history.
Is Mable coming back?
Our data marks it reviving, and England and Wales set its peak in the most recent year we hold.
How popular is the name Mable?
In 2025, Mable was given to 73 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Is Mable a girl's or a boy's name?
Mable is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Mable?
Mable has 2 syllables.
Is Mable a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Mable currently ranks #1,868 in the United States. After peaking in the 1920s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.