The Ables surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,010 people carried this name — #6,733 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 58,800 people counted. That is up 2% from 4,935 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Ables surname

Derivative of Scots Abel (“son or servant of someone called Abel”). Possibly a respelling of German Abels.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Ables» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In print

Ables in American newspapers,
1909–1910.

Newspaper page from San Antonio Light And Gazette carrying the name Ables
San Antonio Light And Gazette 1909-07-28
Newspaper page from San Antonio Light And Gazette carrying the name Ables
San Antonio Light And Gazette 1910-06-14
Newspaper page from San Antonio Light And Gazette carrying the name Ables
San Antonio Light And Gazette 1909-07-04

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Ables in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1960s.

441 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Ables. The most, 64, date from the 1920s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Queensland, at 1.5 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 188
Queensland 117
Victoria 77
South Australia 20
Western Australia 20
Tasmania 14

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Ables.

Who carried it

People named Ables,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Harry Ables
    Harry Ables 1883–1951 · baseball player
  • Charles Ables 1943–2001 · bassist

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 4 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Ables,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States229 records

229 records of the Ables name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 158
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 48
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 8
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 5
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 4
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 3
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Vincent Ables

    Born 1919 in West Virginia. Enlisted 1942 at Clarksburg; farm hand from Lewis County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1994, buried at West Virginia National Cemetery, West Virginia.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Elmer Robert Lee Ables

    Born 1937; from Newhall, California. U.S. Army, medical specialist; killed in action 1967 in Phuoc Long, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record George Ables

    Arrived at New York in 1872 aboard the Minnesota from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 35; laborer. From England.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 229 records for Ables in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Netherlands2 records

2 records of the Ables name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 1
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Martinus Ables

    Died 1817 in Charleroy, Belgium, aged 24.

    Open Archives, Regionaal Historisch Centrum Limburg (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Rosalie Ables

    Buried in 1804 in Breda.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Breda (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Australia1 record

1 record of the Ables name in Australia Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record George A. Ables

    Farmer of Werribee, Victoria; died 1916.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Ables.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Ables is.
A volume says what happened to it.

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