Abaigeal
Irish variant of the Hebrew name Abigail, meaning "father's joy".
Name Census estimates that about 324 living Americans carry the first name Abaigeal. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Abaigeal today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abaigeal births was 2003 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abaigeal. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Abaigeal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
324
~ 1 in 1,057,884 Americans
Peak year
2003
24 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2017 SSA rank
#10,688
Tracked since 1989
Census
Abaigeal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 308 people with the first name Abaigeal, which placed it at #28,952 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#28,952
National first-name rank
People counted
308
308 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abaigeal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abaigeal is White at 87.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.2%) and Hispanic (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Abaigeal described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Abaigeal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.3% · 269
- Two or more races6.2% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 13
- Black or African American1.0% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Abaigeal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abaigeal from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 155 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Abaigeal remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abaigeal by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Abaigeal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abaigeals live
Origin
Meaning and history of Abaigeal
The name Abaigeal is a feminine given name of Irish origin, derived from the Hebrew name Abigail, meaning "father's joy" or "source of joy." It is a variant spelling of the more common English form, Abigail.
The name Abaigeal has its roots in ancient Hebrew and is found in the Bible, where Abigail was a wife of King David. This biblical reference contributed to the name's popularity among Christians and its subsequent spread across Europe, including Ireland.
The earliest recorded use of the spelling Abaigeal dates back to the 16th century in Ireland. It was particularly common among Irish families who wanted to preserve the traditional Gaelic form of the name.
One of the earliest notable bearers of the name Abaigeal was Abaigeal Ni Bhriain, an Irish noblewoman from the 16th century, known for her patronage of the arts and literature.
In the 17th century, Abaigeal Ní Challanáin was a renowned Irish poet and writer who composed works in both Irish and English. She was celebrated for her skill in preserving the Irish language and culture through her literary contributions.
In the 19th century, Abaigeal Ní Chonaill was an Irish language scholar and teacher who played a significant role in the preservation and promotion of the Irish language during a time when it was in decline.
Another notable figure was Abaigeal Ní Bhraonáin (1859-1928), an Irish nationalist and activist who fought for Irish independence and women's rights. She was a prominent member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland) organization.
In the 20th century, Abaigeal Ní Mhaolchatha (1901-1988) was an Irish writer and playwright who contributed significantly to the Irish literary scene. Her works often explored themes of identity, tradition, and the struggles of rural life in Ireland.
While the name Abaigeal has its origins in ancient Hebrew and biblical references, it has maintained a strong connection to Irish culture and heritage over the centuries, with many notable bearers contributing to the preservation of Irish language, literature, and traditions.
People
Abaigeal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abaigeal as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Abaigeal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abaigeal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 324 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abaigeal going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,057,884 US residents.
Is Abaigeal a common name?
We classify Abaigeal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 330 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abaigeal most popular?
The single biggest year for Abaigeal was 2003, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abaigeal is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abaigeal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 308 people with the name Abaigeal, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,952 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Abaigeal in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Abaigeal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abaigeal appears almost entirely female. Of the 305 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Abaigeal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abaigeal is White at 87.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.2%) and Hispanic (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Abaigeal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Abaigeal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.3% (269 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Abaigeal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abaigeal a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Abaigeal in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Abaigeal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abaigeal in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Abaigeal can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Abaigeal?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.