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This interesting and long-established surname is of English origin, and derives from the male "Hevel", traditionally held to derive from the Hebrew "hevel", breath, vigour, used also in the figurative sense "vanity, worthlessness". This name was borne by the son of Adam who was murdered by his brother Cain (Genesis 4:1-8), and was popular throughout during the Middle Ages (circa 1200 - 1500), when there was a cult of suffering innocence which Abel represented. "Abellus", the form of the name, is recorded (with surname) in Documents relating to the . Leicestershire, dated 1216, and an Abel Etton', , was noted in the 1221 of Warwickshire. The surname first appears on record towards the end of the 12th Century (see below), and further early examples include: Richard Abel (Buckinghamshire, 1273) and Thomas Abelle (Yorkshire, 1301). In the modern idiom the name is variously spelt Abel, Abell, Abele and Able, with forms including Abeles, Abelson and Ableson.

List Ancestral records for:- Ableson

Abel is also recorded in Scotland from an early date, one Master Abel being noted in Documents concerning the of Kelso in 1235. The early recordings include examples such as Evans Abelson, who was christened at St James Clerkenwell, London, on October 6th 1578, and Edward Ableson, the son of Myles and Patience Ableson, who was christened at the famous church of St Dunstans in the East, Stepney, on December 20th 1643. The most associated with the name has the of a , with twelve -de-lis on an . The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Abel, which was dated 1197, in the " of Essex", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "Richard the ", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as . Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing of the original spelling.
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