Mabel is an English female given name derived from the Latin amabilis, "lovable, dear". History Amabilis of Riom (died 475) was a French male saint who logically would have assumed the name Amabilis upon entering the priesthood: his veneration may have resulted in Amabilis being used as both a male and female name, or the name's female usage may have been initiated by the female saint Amabilis of Rouen (died 634), the daughter of an Anglo-Saxon king who would have adopted the name Amabilis upon becoming a nun. Brought by the Normans—as Amable—to the British Isles, the name was there common as both Amabel and the abbreviated Mabel throughout the Middle Ages, with Mabel subsequently remaining common until , from which point its usage was largely restricted to Ireland, Mabel there being perceived as a variant of the Celtic name Maeve, until the name had a Victorian revival in Britain, facilitated by the 1853 publication of the novel The Heir of Redclyffe by Charlotte M. Yonge, which features an Irish character named Mabel Kilcoran; Yonge's novel also features a character named Amabel, but her novel only significantly boosted the popularity of the name in the form Mabel, which became immensely popular in both the British Isles and the United States. At the start of the 20th century, Mabel's popularity began a slow decline which accelerated from the 1930s; the name has seen very light usage since the 1960s. Due to its origin as an abridgement of Amabel it has been surmised that Mabel was originally pronounced with a short A, the name's pronunciation with a long A dating only from its mid-19th-century revival. Notable people Mabel McVey (born 1996), English singer and songwriter Mabel of Bury St. Edmunds, 13th-century embroiderer Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau (born 1968), member of the Dutch royalty Mabel Albertson (1901–1992), American character actress Mabel Esther Allan (1915–1998), British author Mabel Lucie Atwell (1879–1964) British children's illustrator and author Mabel Marks Bacon (1876–1966), American hotelier Mabel Ballin (1887–1958), American actress Mabel de Bellême (died 1079), Countess of Shrewsbury and Lady of Arundel Mabel Besant-Scott (1870–1952), British occultist Mabel Thorp Boardman (1860–1946), American philanthropist involved with the American Red Cross Mabel Browne, Countess of Kildare (c. 1536 – 1610) Mabel Cheung (born 1950), film director from Hong Kong Mabel Colhoun (1905–1992), Irish photographer, teacher and archaeologist Mabel Condemarín (1931–2004), Chilean educator Mabel Wheeler Daniels (1877–1971), American composer, conductor,