Marrable Family History

From the Old French and Middle English female personal name Mirabel, Mirable, Mirabelle, Merable, Marabile, and Marable, it represents a transferred use of the adjective. The name is recorded in early 9th-century France as Mirabilis. Introduced to England after the Norman Conquest, it remained in infrequent but continuous use there from the 13th century until well into the 19th century.

The name was sometimes altered by folk etymology to Mirabelle (latinized as Mirabella) through association of -bel with belle, meaning ‘fine’ or ‘beautiful’.

This evolution is traced back to Old French and Anglo-Norman French mirabil(l)e, mirable, *merabile, *marabile, which means ‘admirable’ or ‘marvellous’ (Latin mirabilis), or from the corresponding noun mirabille, marabille (Latin mirabilia) meaning ‘marvel’ or ‘wonder’.

Additionally, the synonymous term Marvell derives from an alternative French pronunciation of the same words.