Abel
Meaning
traditionally "breath"
The story
Abel is the Bible's first shepherd and its first loss: the son of Adam and Eve whose offering found favor, and who died for it at his brother Cain's hand. The name is traditionally connected to a Hebrew word for breath, a fitting meaning for a life the text makes so brief. The sadness has not kept parents away. Abel has been quietly present in American records in every decade since the 1890s, sustained in part by Spanish-speaking families, for whom it has long been a familiar choice, and its modern rise has been steady: gradual through the 1990s, steeper after 2000, with the 2010s and 2020s standing as its strongest decades on record. It is hard not to notice that this stretch overlaps with the fame of Abel Tesfaye, the singer known as The Weeknd, though the climb was underway before him.
On record since at least 1252: Abel, king of Denmark.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Abel peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Popularity in Brazil
22,967 people · the #975 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 8,850 · median age 48
Among people named Abel living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 523 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Abel
Most people given the name Abel in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Abel deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Abel truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Abel fits with your family’s names and surname.
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