Annabel means grace + beautiful — the compact form of Annabella, blending Anna (grace) with belle/bel (beautiful). Edgar Allan Poe wrote Annabel Lee — the most haunting love poem in English. Three syllables of compound grace-beauty, Poe-level poetry, and the love that death could not defeat.
Hebrew Hannah (grace) + French bel (beautiful)→Annabel
1
Hebrew / French roots
Annabel blends Anna (grace) with bel (beautiful). Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee (1849) is the most haunting love poem in English — a love that even death cannot defeat.
2
First recorded
Earliest known use: Medieval compound; Poe's Annabel Lee (1849).
3
Today
Annabel remains a beloved choice, ranking #1169 in the US. 14,880 babies have been named Annabel since 1880.
◈ Sources: Behind the Name, Oxford Dictionary of First Names, SSA data
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How popular is Annabel?
2014peak year
The name Annabel reached its peak in 2014, with 716 registrations (ranked #447). The name has actually been around since 1880 — over a century — though it took until recently to find its widest audience. Since the peak, the name has eased to well outside the top 1,000 (around #1169) today, averaging about 245 new babies per year. Annabel has been declining in recent years. Across all years on record, approximately 14,880 American babies have carried this name.
Year-by-year registrations1880–2024 · U.S. Social Security data
Annabel's Life Path 3 is the communicator's number — Poe-level communication. People named Annabel tend to be beautiful, graceful, and gifted at inspiring the most haunting love poems.
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Inspires haunting poems
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Grace-beauty compound
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Poe's beloved
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Death-defying love
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Melodic flowing
A1
N5
N5
A1
B2
E5
L3
Sum: 22 → Life path 4
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Personality of Annabel
🏛️
Steady & reliable
When they make a promise, they keep it.
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Methodical
Thorough, careful, precise.
💪
Quietly powerful
Their strength is always there when it matters.
🌿
Grounded
No matter what swirls around them, they stay centred.
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