Holding steady, #7,491 for girls today.
Popularity of Maebelle since 1884
Babies named Maebelle per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1917, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Maebelle's real moment was 1884.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 21 |
| 1890s | 42 |
| 1900s | 125 |
| 1910s | 260 |
| 1920s | 315 |
| 1930s | 162 |
| 1940s | 86 |
| 1950s | 8 |
| 1960s | 5 |
| 1970s | 0 |
| 1980s | 0 |
| 1990s | 0 |
| 2000s | 14 |
| 2010s | 96 |
| 2020s | 84 |
Meaning & origin
Maebelle is a rare 19th-century variant of Mabel, first recorded in 1884, the same year it reached its peak rank of 7491st in U.S. popularity. The name combines the suffix 'belle', meaning 'beautiful' in French, with the Latin-derived root 'amabilis' (lovable). Although never widely used, it reflects a historical trend for elaborate feminine names ending in 'belle'. Today, Maebelle remains a distinct choice, with roughly 1 in every 114,805 girls given the name in recent years. Its trajectory is stable, indicating minimal fluctuations in usage over time. The name has seen little revival in the 1880s decade or later, and no states have recorded notable concentrations of Maebelle births.
Maebelle is a variant of Mabel, which itself comes from the Latin name Amabilis (meaning 'lovable'), a name used in the Middle Ages. The spelling with '-belle' likely arose in the 19th century as part of a fashion for names ending in 'belle', evoking French 'belle' meaning 'beautiful'. It was most popular in the 1880s and has since become rare.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Mae, Belle, Mabel
Sibling names for Maebelle
Names that share Maebelle's style, for a brother or sister.
