Abigail
Masculine · “my father is joy”
Abigail is given to girls far more often — 413,263 girls against 672 boys since 1880. See Abigail as a girl name
Abigail is a Hebrew sentence-name that English has had since the Reformation, dropped almost entirely for a hundred years, and then took up again with more enthusiasm than it ever had the first time. Its most quoted American bearer wrote one paragraph that is still being argued over.
How old is the name Abigail?
Abigail first appears in US birth records in 1976 — 49 years ago. The typical Abigail alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 700 people named Abigail are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Abigail most popular?
Abigail peaked in 2004, reaching #1502 nationally. See the whole 2004 chart.
Where it comes from
From Avigayil to Abigail
The story of Abigail
In the spring of seventeen seventy-six, with independence being drafted, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband asking him to remember the ladies in the new code of laws and to be more generous to them than his ancestors had been. She added that all men would be tyrants if they could, and that women would not hold themselves bound by laws in which they had no voice. The letter survives because the Adamses kept everything. So does his reply, which treats the request as a joke, tells her he cannot help laughing, and says that men know better than to repeal their masculine systems. She wrote back that the arbitrary power they were complaining of in Britain was one they held over their own households. The exchange is the earliest American statement of the argument.
Meaning
my father is joy
A Hebrew sentence joining the word for father to one meaning joy or exultation. It is one of a set of names built the same way, and the construction is a statement about the family rather than a description of the child.
How the name formed
- Avigayil
- Abigail
Related forms: Avigail · Abigaíl · Abigaël
Pronouncing Abigail
AB-ih-gayl
Three syllables with the stress at the front. The final syllable keeps a full vowel rather than reducing, which is what allows Gail to come off it as a separate name.
Nicknames for Abigail
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
- 1976
- Most boys named
- 200489 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1502reached in 2004
- Change vs 2022
- +50.0%9 in 2023, from 6
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.
Abigail in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Avigail in Hebrew — same name
- Abigaíl in Spanish — same name
- Abigaël in French — same name
Abigails among us
people named Abigail 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
Abigail 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
- Abby and Gail come from opposite ends and sound nothing alike.
- The meaning is a full sentence and is documented all the way back.
- It is understood everywhere in the English-speaking world.
- It has been very common for two decades, so a classroom will hold others.
- Abigale and Abbigail are both recorded and the spelling will be asked about.
- It is recorded for sons as well, though so rarely that a boy would be explaining it.
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What they receive
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Abigail
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Abigails are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Abigail are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Abigail in 2025?
- Abigail is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Abigail with classmates?
- Abigail will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anthony#46 · Andrew#73 · Alexander#30 · Aaron#80 · Adam#101 · Arthur#87 · Albert#614 · Austin#113
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Abigail? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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