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Sable

#2,717 in 2025Girls' name

Black

Sable has been given to 1,718 babies in the U.S. since 1923. In 2025 it ranked #2,717 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1986, with 181 recorded.

Babies named Sable, 2025

1 in 51,800

Sable over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Sable: meaning, origin, and history

Black

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Sable means

Sable means “black”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,702 girls were recorded with the name Sable between 1923 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 181 in 1986; its best national rank was #902 in 1986.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #5,459 in 2020 to #2,717 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #7,543 in 2015 to #2,717 in 2025.

In the United States, 16 boys were recorded with the name Sable between 2023 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 6 in 2025; its best national rank was #11,745 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Sable?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 51,800
64 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 25,100
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#2,717
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
35,906 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Sable sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 35,906 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Sable. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Sables were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Sable was born before 1994 — so the typical Sable is around 31 today.

Median birth year
1994
About 31 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
32.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
32.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,668
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 32.9% of all recorded uses (560).

Is Sable rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+2,283
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+2,742
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+4,826
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
4.00×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
35.4%
Peak was 1986 (181)
Years since peak
39
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
39.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#902
1986

Spellings of Sable

Sable is not the most common spelling — Sally is, with 30.0% against Sable's 0.25%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Sable is used

Across 1910–2025, Sable was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 212,450 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Florida1 in 100,000
  3. 3Louisiana1 in 100,000
  4. 4South Carolina1 in 100,000
  5. 5Texas1 in 100,000
  6. 6Alabama1 in —
  7. 7Georgia1 in —
  8. 8Illinois1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Sable has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Sable around the world

Where Sable ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2025–2025
    #5,927
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2020
    #2,936
    in 2020
  • South Australia
    1988–2006
    #782
    in 2006

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Sable by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#2,717
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 2,742
Best rank ever
#902
1986
Peak year
1986
181 that year
First recorded
1923
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,702
Count in 2025
64

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#11,745
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#11,745
2025
Peak year
2025
6 that year
First recorded
2023
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
16
Count in 2025
6

Names similar to Sable

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

SabaSabraSabahSabreSabineSabellaSabrynaSabrinSabinaSabihaSabreenNobleSabriaSabrenaFableSabriyaSybleSabirinSabreeSabelSabeenSabiraSabrynSabrine

Sibling names for Sable

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Sable

Top names of 1986, Sable's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1986Girls' names starting with SAnimal-Inspired Names