Show ContentsAnable History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Anglo-Saxon name Anable comes from the female personal name Anabel, which was originally derived from the Latin word amablis, which means lovable. [1]

"There is no difficulty about it. Originally it was Amable or Amabel, but very soon became Annabel, whence the Scottish Annaple and Annabella. " [2]

"There is no evidence for the use of Hannibal as a Christian name in England before 1619 in Cornwall." [3]

Early Origins of the Anable family

The surname Anable was first found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 where we found entries as a forename and surname: Amabilia (without surname), Buckinghamshire; John filius Amabilie, Huntingdonshire; and John Amable Cambridgeshire. [2]

The Close Rolls listed Richard Anabilla, temp. Richard II, Mathew Hanybal, 39 Henry III (in the 39th year of King Henry III's reign), John Anable, 22 Edward III (during the 22nd year of King Edward III's reign.) [2]

In Cheshire, Roger, George Anabull(e) was listed there in 1499 and 1539. Thomas Hannyball was listed in Oxfordshire in 1513 and John Anyable was listed in Suffolk in 1568. [3]

Early History of the Anable family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Anable research. Another 104 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1166, 1256, 1275, 1282, 1504, 1513, 1515, 1520, 1523, 1531, 1792 and 1821 are included under the topic Early Anable History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Anable Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Anable has appeared include Annabell, Anabell, Anebelle, Annabal, Annable, Anable, Amable, Amabilis, Annible, Hunnable, Hannibal, Honeyball, Honeybell and many more.

Early Notables of the Anable family

Distinguished members of the family include Thomas Hannibal (d. 1531), English judge who was incepted in the canon law at the university of Cambridge in 1504, and the same year was installed prebendary of Gevendale in the church of York. "He was incorporated D.C.L. at Oxford in 1513, and graduated LL.D. at Cambridge, and received the appointment of vicar-general to Silvester, bishop of Worcester, in the following year. He entered the...
Another 70 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Anable Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Anable migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Anable arrived in North America very early:

Anable Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Anthony Anable, who arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1623 [4]


  1. Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
  2. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  3. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  4. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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