Posted by Sidonie Superficially there is much prettiness to recommend it, from the round, mellow-breathing first syllable which remembers the balmy airs of springtime in speaking the name of the year's fifth month, to the soft finish, where 'b' and 'l' hushedly meet with scarcely a breath between them. It seems the tide is due to return it any day. Rachel and Hazel, after all, are composed similarly and enjoy currency. Nor must one strain to imagine that an ear accustomed and responsive to Gabriel should discover the wholesome qualities so admired in that name redoubled in the enveloping richness of Mabel. Perhaps appealing to the 'cute' crowd, the diminutive Mopsa--preferred by faeries from the time of Shakespeare to that of Ingelow--is sweet endearment for the sentimental days of early childhood. Jessamine might be in rather better odour among those who wish to honour a (A)Mabel but find the name a bit too mouldy; for in the language of flowers the jessamine denotes amiability.
on 8/14/2006, 6:36 am, in reply to "Mabel"
66.98.152.31
Though I long ago shunned -bel names for the trendy plague on their kind, this one retains a spot on my list by virtue of its being a family name (my English great-grandmother, born Amabel, was known through adulthood as Mabel, the commoner form in late 19th century Pennsylvania).
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