Abegail
Feminine · Hebrew roots · “my father is joy (as Abigail)”
Abegail says exactly what Abigail says, with an e standing where the familiar spelling has an i. That small letter carries more than it looks: in the Hebrew behind the name, it is the part that means 'my'.
How old is the name Abegail?
Abegail first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Abegail alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 500 people named Abegail are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Abegail most popular?
Abegail peaked in 2000, reaching #3664 nationally. See the whole 2000 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Avigayil (Hebrew) to Abegail
The story of Abegail
Abigail comes into English from the First Book of Samuel, and the name has been read in English Bibles for centuries. In Hebrew it opens with avi, 'my father', where the final i is a suffix meaning 'my'. English keeps that i as a plain vowel in a syllable nobody stresses, and said aloud AB-ih-gayl and AB-eh-gayl are hard to tell apart. Abegail is that closeness written down: the e takes the place of the Hebrew 'my', and nothing in the record says when or why it first did.
Meaning
my father is joy (as Abigail)
Abegail is a spelling of Abigail, from the Hebrew Avigayil. The first element, avi, is av, 'father', with the ending -i, 'my'; the second is read as 'joy' or 'rejoicing'. The same 'my father' opening begins other biblical names, among them Abimelech, 'my father is king', and Abijah, 'my father is the Lord'.
How the name formed
- AvigayilHebrew
- AbigailEnglish Bible
- Abegail
Related forms: Avigayil · Abigaille
Pronouncing Abegail
AB-ih-gayl
Said like Abigail. The e is not meant to change the sound, though a careful reader may say AB-eh-gayl.
Nicknames for Abegail
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1981
- Most girls named
- 200035 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3664reached in 2000
- Change vs 2018
- −22.2%7 in 2019, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Abegail in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Avigayil in Hebrew — transliteration
- Abigaille in Italian — related form
Abegails among us
people named Abegail are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Abegail sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Sounds identical to Abigail, so it is understood at once when spoken.
- Takes Abby and Gail, the same short forms Abigail uses.
- The Hebrew root has a settled meaning, 'my father is joy'.
- Written down, Abegail will be read as a misspelling of Abigail, and forms, teachers and autocorrect will quietly change the e back to an i. Expect to spell it out for life.
- The e sits in the one syllable nobody stresses, so the difference is visible and never audible. The name will be heard as Abigail every time, which is also what makes it easy to live with.
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Abegail
Feminine · Hebrew roots
Frequently asked
- How many Abegails are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Abegail are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Abegail in 2025?
- Abegail is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Abegail with classmates?
- Abegail will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
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Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Abegail? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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