How Many People Are Named Abner?
people named Abner are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 51,824 people in the US has this name
Based on 9,454 babies named Abner in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎💎 Very Rare
Peak Year
293 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Means "my father is a light" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament, Abner was a cousin of Saul and the commander of his army. After he killed Asahel he was himself slain by Asahel's brother Joab. It has been used as an English Christian given name since the Protestant Reformation. It was popular with the Puritans, who brought it to America in the 17th century.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Related & Similar Names
⚧ Gender Distribution
All of the babies given the name Abner in the records were boys.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Abner alive today is about 22 years old, and 74% are under 30. Half of them were between 7 and 30 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Abner first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 2024, to 293 babies. In 2025, 274 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Abner has never been one of the 100 most popular boys' names. Its best rank was #289, in 1881. In 2025 it ranked #874.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #874 |
| Best rank | #289 (1881) |
| Years in the top 100 | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #1,056 in the 2010s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Abner alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Abner were born in California than in any other state: about 1,037 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Abner was given 2.5 times as often in Pennsylvania, 2 times in Texas and 1.8 times in California.
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