Definition of "Mabel"

Her name was Mabel Hortense, and the children were very proud of having a cousin who lived in the city and was named Mabel Hortense. At Damsonfield Four Corners, where they lived, all the little girls were name Mary Jane or Sarah Ann or Lucy Maria, or, at the best, Hattie and Carrie; they had scarcely even heard so fine a name as Mabel Hortense.

1883, Sophie Swett, “All the Plums”, in St. Nicholas Magazine, Vol.10, Part 1, page 34

The red stitching across the breast pocket read Mabel, a name Maggie had not heard since her childhood. What had become of all the Mabels? She tried to picture giving a new little baby that name.

1988, Anne Tyler, Breathing Lessons, page 28