MEANING & HISTORY
What does Annabelle mean?
Annabelle is a spelling of Annabel shaped by the familiar elements Anna and French belle, beautiful. That interpretation helps explain its modern appearance, but Annabel itself has a medieval history commonly connected with Amabel, from Latin amabilis, lovable.
Both the older Amabel route and the later Anna plus belle interpretation matter. Calling the name only beautiful Anna leaves out the historical development that connects the spellings.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
CebuanoEtymology & source
From English Annabelle.
a female given name from English
Wiktionary: Annabelle (Cebuano) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
A variant of Annabel, by folk etymology, "beautiful Anna".
A female given name from Latin.
Wiktionary: Annabelle (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
Originally a mishearing or misreading of Latin amabilis (“lovable”) (= Amabel, Mabel), used since the 12th century and by folk etymology interpreted as Anna + belle, "beautiful Anna".
A female given name from Latin.
Wiktionary: Annabelle (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
From Late Latin Anna both directly and via numerous other languages, chiefly in reference to St Anne the apocryphal mother of Mary mother of Jesus but appearing in the Vulgate in reference to Anne the Prophetess, from Koine Greek Ἄννα (Ánna) in the New Testament, from Hebrew חַנָּה (Ḥannâ, “Hannah”), from חַנָּה (ḥannâ, “grace, gracious, graced with child”). As a city in Illinois, named for Anna Davie, wife of one of the initial settlers. Doublet of Ann, Anne, Ana, and Hannah.
A female given name from Latin.
Wiktionary: Annabelle (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Annabelle
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Annabelle Rama
Philippine talent manager, actress
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Annabelle Huggins
Filipino actress
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
4
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
2
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Annabelle Huggins, Annabelle Rama
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Annabelle in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Annabelle
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Isabelle♀French form of Isabel, in the Elizabeth family
- Annette♀French diminutive of Anne
- Antonello♂Familiar Italian form of Antonio
- Arielle♀French form of Ariel; lion of God
- Belle♀Beautiful; also a short form of Isabelle or Annabelle
- Danielle♀French feminine form of Daniel
- Janelle♀God is gracious; Jane with -elle
- Jobelle♀Jo plus Belle
What rhymes with Annabelle?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Recorded combinations with Annabelle
1 source-reported compound forms include this name as a component. Each part keeps its own history.
Names in this collection
Explore combinations →Explore Annabelle further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q15816857 — Annabelle (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Annabelle Huggins (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q15816857 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Annabelle Rama (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q15816857 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Annabelle (Cebuano) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Annabelle (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Annabelle (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Annabelle (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Annabelle (opens in a new tab)
Name formation and linguistic history; consulted existing imported etymology.