Abel is okay to me. I am not religious but do slightly think of Cain and Abel. I also wonder if it is a well known enough name to not have people spell it like the word Able. Just a thought. Another thought is that it reminds me of Ansel.

Middle name thoughts: Ansel Thomas; Ansel Warren; Ansel Rupert; Ansel Blaise; Ansel Vincent;

Ansel Matthias; Ansel Curtis; Ansel Isaac; Ansel Sebastien   Do any of those work well?

first thing that came to mind was sons of anarchy, its the name of the main charactors son.  middle names are kinda hard do you have a family name you have a connection to, maybe a surname like preston, spencer, or something classic like william. 

The only associations I have with the name Abel are Cain & Abel from the Bible & one baby (about a year old) named for his great-grandfather.   It seems like a name that should be more popular than it is-a word association name with a good meaning, vintage-y and Old Testament Bible.   I think the Cain & Abel association probably keeps a lot of people from using it.  

For middle names, I would look for a good flow-unless you have family names you could use.  How many syllables are in your last name?  Is it a soft G or hard G?  Maybe something vintage-y, but since Abel is so strongly associated with Cain & Abel,  I would stay away from using another Biblical name.

So, along those lines I'll suggest Abel Jasper and Abel Henry.  If you don't necassarily want another vintage name, what about Abel Dominic, Abel Brenden or Abel Justin?

The comedian/actress Amy Poehler's son is Abel James, a combo I like very much. Not sure it meets your criteria of "interesting but not too crazy" though ... Abel Augustine/Augusten and Abel Alexander immediately come to my mind for some reason, though maybe Augustine/Augusten is too g-heavy with your last name? I like Abel, and though it will probably bring the Biblical story to mind for most people, that's no different than naming your child Eve or Jonah in my opinion, and it doesn't have the negative baggage that Cain does. Nice choice!

Like most others, I do think of Cain and Abel first. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, though—wasn't Abel the good brother? Other than that, the talk here of Abel and "able" has me thinking of that old rhyme—"Mabel, Mabel, strong and able, get your elbows off the table!"... in some versions followed by "This is not a horse's stable, but a proper dining table." Not sure why that suddenly popped into mind, but there it is.

For middle names, I think it would help if you gave us a little more guidance as to your taste—maybe three or four combos that you're considering, which we can comment on and then use as a basis for more suggestions.

I like the name Abel and it didn't automatically bring to mind Cain and Abel for me.

Abel Patrick

Abel Matthew

Abel William

Amy Poehler and Will Arnett's son is named Abel James, which I think goes well together.

Congratulations! I like the suggestions and comments you've gotten so far. While it's unavoidable that people will think of the Bible story and the word "able," I'll throw out another association: the children's book "Abel's Island" by William Steig. I loved this story, and it really made me like the name. Dominic, which was suggested, is another Steig protagonist, if I remember right, so for me that would highlight the association. Just in terms of sound, Abel is short and sweet and a nice balance of soft and strong.

I'd still say that it's a bit of a "risky" name, due to being less common and having one strong association, and that under those circumstances, a lot of parents like to hedge their bets and give their child a second name that's less adventurous in case he decides that fits him more comfortably. So in your shoes, I'd probably go with something more common and classic for the middle, and it doesn't have to be "boring" if it honors someone or something important to you. I agree with others that I'd probably avoid another biblical (at least Old Testament) name to downplay that association, and that a surname from your family tree (as long as it's not an obvious profession title) could make a nice choice.

If you don't like the idea of him ever going by his middle name instead of Abel, initials could be a nice alternative for a back-up. That makes me want to find a J name for him to give you A.J. If you don't wan't to copy Abel James, how about Abel Jack, Abel Jared, Abel Jason, Abel Jeremy, Abel John, Abel Jonas, Abel Jude, Abel Julian ...?

Oh, and as well as ruling out G names, I'd stay away from R as well.

I'll try to think of some more suggestions, but it would help to know which of the previous ones are on the right track. We'll be interested to see what you decide on!

Awesome suggestions from everyone, and thanks for the book suggestion I am going to google it now