Names/A

Able

boys’ nameFallingCompare

Able is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 18 births. It has never entered the top 1,000.

Rank in 2024
outside the top 1,000
Births in 2024
180.00% of boys
Peak year
201445 births
Best rank
never in the top 1,000
Since 1912
1,096people given the name
Babies named Able, by year of birthboys
01325385018801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

1,096 boys have been named Able in the United States since 1912, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2014, with 45 births.

It is falling: its share of births is 60% or less of what it was ten years ago.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 2006, and the 2010s alone account for 32%.

By decade

Decadeboys named Able
1910s30
1920s37
1930s19
1940s20
1950s49
1960s42
1970s73
1980s95
1990s99
2000s160
2010s346
2020s126

In 2014, its biggest year

Able was outside the top 1,000 that year. The top five boys’ names of 2014 were Noah, Liam, Mason, Jacob and William. See all of 2014.

Names that rose and fell with Able

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.