Abigail

Hebrew

"my father is joyful"

Abigail Origin and Meaning

The name Abigail is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "my father is joyful".

Abigail has been in for so long -- the name has ranked in the US Top 100 since the late 1980s -- it's amazing that it isn't more out by now. But Abigail's biblical and historic roots make it a fashionable classic rather than a passing fad.

The name Abigail comes from the Hebrew name Avigail and is derived from the Hebrew elements ab, meaning "father," and g-y-l, meaning "to rejoice." In the Old Testament, Abigail was the wife of David, said to be beautiful, wise, and prophetic.

Abigail was well-used for centuries but In the early 1800s, abigail became a slang term for a lady's maid, which led to a fall from favor. It was well on its way down by the time the US Social Security office began keeping records on baby name popularity in 1880, and by the early 1900s fell off the Top 1000 completely.

Abigail's resurgence was tied to the rediscovery of many old biblical names starting in the 1960s. Abigail was in the first wave of the Old Testament names that were revived then, including Hannah, Rebecca, and Rachel for girls, Joshua, Aaron, and Benjamin for boys.

Abigail has been the name of two of our First Ladies—three, if you count the character on The West Wing—and Abby has been the name of a host of television and movie characters in everything from Mad Men to The Lovely Bones.

If you like Abigail but want something fresher, you may consider such other biblical choices as Lydia and Priscilla or names popular in Revolutionary Era America that have been neglected in recent years, such as Susannah and Hester.

Abigail Rank in US Top 1000

# 31 in the US

Abigail Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 127 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Abigail

• 31 US 2023
• 127 Nameberry 2025
• 25 Canada 2023
• 50 Future 2028
• 134 England 2023
• 104 Scotland 2024
• 79 Ireland 2024
• 58 Australia 2024
• 77 New Zealand 2024
• 494 Germany 2016
• 33 Mexico 2021
• 1 Israel 2023
• 64 Chile 2021

20 Names Similar to Abigail

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Abigail.

• Anna
• Julia
• Emily
• Hannah
• Katherine
• Isabel
• Madeline
• Sophie
• Elizabeth
• Claire
• Caroline
• Leah
• Emma
• Kate
• Laura
• Grace
• Natalie
• Sarah
• Isabelle
• Catherine

Famous People Named Abigail

• Abigail sister of King David (1 Chr. 2:16)
• Abigail Adams U.S. First Lady as wife of 2nd President John Adams
• Abigail "Nabby" Adams Smith daughter of Abigail and John Adams
• Abigail Powers Fillmore U.S. First Lady as wife of President Millard Fillmore
• Abigail Van Buren pen name of Pauline and Jeanne Phillips, American advice columnists of "Dear Abby"
• Abigail Kathleen Breslin American actress
• Abigail Savage American actress
• Abigail Rich American model and actress
• Abigail Michal Spears American tennis player
• Abigail Anne Folger American socialite and volunteer
• Abigail Lane English visual artist
• Abigail Leigh Spencer American actress
• Abigail Williams accuser in the 1692 Salem witch trials
• Abigail "Gayle" Zsiga English electronic musician
• Mary Abigail "Abby" Wambach American soccer player
• Abigail Lynn "Abby" Dahlkemper American soccer player
• Abigail Nellie "Abby" Waner American basketball player
• Abigail Loraine "Abby" Hensel American conjoined twin and reality TV personality; twin Brittany Hensel
• Abigail Susan "Abby" Eckstein American child model
• Abigail Mawae (b. 2000) daughter of NFL player Kevin Mawae
• Abigail Grace Fisher (b. 2008) daughter of singer Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Matt Fisher
• Abigail O'kalani Bowlsbey (b. 2014) daughter of U.S. Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth
• Abigail Severino (b. 2015) daughter of baseball player Luis Severino

The name Abigail in Pop Culture

• Abigail Johanna Deveraux character on American soap "Days of Our Lives"
• Abigail Rachel "Abby" Carlton Newman character on American soap "The Young and the Restless"
• Abigail "Abby" Scuito character on TV's 'NCIS'
• Abigail Armstrong character on Australian TV's "Dance Academy"
• Abigail "Abbie" Carmichael character on TV's "Law & Order"
• Abigail Hobbs character on TV's 'Hannibal'
• Dr. Abigail Chase main character in National Treasure movies
• Abigail Nixon character on British TV's "The Bill"
• Abigail Whitman character on TV's "Mad Men"
• Abigail Kenner character in novel "The Lifeboat Clique"
• Abigail "Abby" Whelan character on TV's 'Scandal'
• Abigail Lytar character on TV's "Psych"
• Abigail "Abby" Mills character on TV's "Sleepy Hollow"
• Sister Abigail character in movie 'Orphan'
• Abigail "Abby" Davies character on British soap "Hollyoaks"
• Abigail Salmon character in book/movie "The Lovely Bones"
• Abigail "Abby" Lincoln (a.k.a. Numbah 5) one of the main characters on Codename: Kids Next Door
• Abigail Merriweather character in "This golden land" by Barbara Wood
• "Abigail " song and concept album by King Diamond
• Abigail "Abby" Griffin a character in the TV show The 100
• Abigail "Abbie" Rosso character in the children's novel '10 Kids, No Pets', by Ann M Martin
• Abigail "Abby" Williams character in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible
• Abigail "Abby" Bennett Wilson character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries"
• Abigail "Abbey" Bartlet character in the TV show The West Wing
• Abigail Williams character in the movie "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
• "Abigail" song by Motionless in White
• Abigail Kirk character in book and movie "Playing Beatie Bow"
• Abigail a character in the game "Stardew Valley"
• Abigail “Abby” Maitland character in ITV Series “Primeval”
• Abby Lockhart Nurse, then Doctor on TV’s ER