Abilene is a biblical place name, a region near Damascus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, and is usually explained from the Hebrew abel as "grassy meadow" or "grassland". Americans know it as the Texas cattle town and the Kansas boyhood home of Dwight Eisenhower, and the song "Abilene" was a 1963 country hit. The name has stayed rare, rising from about number 2590 in 2015 to a peak of number 1942 in 2024, and ranks number 2064 in 2025.