Annabelle combines Anna, "grace", with the French belle, "beautiful", though it may also descend from the medieval Scottish name Annabel, which is probably a form of Amabel, "lovable". Edgar Allan Poe's 1849 poem Annabel Lee gave the name a lasting place in American literature. Annabelle climbed from number 464 in 2000 to a peak of number 57 in 2014, then eased out of the top 100 and ranks number 343 in 2025.