The Tanukh emirs (Buhturids) were cavalry officers in a special regiment of the Mamluk army that conquered Beirut in 1291, led by Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil.

In his The Land and the Book, Thomson gives a vivid account of the village being overrun by an invasion of locusts which lasted four days.

Ιn 1845 part of the Nakadi family, namely sheikh Qasim and his brothers Salim and Said, left Deir al-Qamar and relocated to Aabey.

Aabey is the birthplace of Fuad Hamza who served as the personal adviser of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia.

The main families in Aabey are: Hamza, Halabi, Haddad, Hassan, Abdel Wili, Amaneldine, Ataya, Faraj, Jamal, Jaber, Nakadi, Nasr, Kuntar, Ghrayeb, Khoury, Kanaan, Raydan, Shreety, Timani and Wehbe.