Abegail
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "father's joy" or "source of joy".
Name Census estimates that about 505 living Americans carry the first name Abegail. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Abegail today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abegail births was 2000 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abegail. 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.
People living today
505
~ 1 in 678,721 Americans
Peak year
2000
35 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2019 SSA rank
#12,454
Tracked since 1981
Popularity
Abegail: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abegail 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 242 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Abegail remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abegail 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 Abegail during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abegails live
Origin
Meaning and history of Abegail
The name Abegail is derived from the Hebrew name Avigayil, which means "father's joy" or "source of joy". It originated in ancient Israel and can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible.
The earliest recorded use of the name Abegail dates back to the 11th century BC, when it was borne by a wife of David, the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel. She is known for her wisdom and quick thinking, which helped prevent bloodshed between her husband and Nabal, her first husband.
In the Middle Ages, the name Abegail became popular in Europe, particularly in England and France, where it was often spelled as Avegoil or Avigail. One notable bearer of the name from this period was Abegail of Besalu, a 10th-century Countess of Barcelona and Girona, who played a significant role in the political affairs of her time.
During the Renaissance, the name gained prominence in literature and art. The character of Abegail appears in several plays by William Shakespeare, including "The Taming of the Shrew" and "The Merry Wives of Windsor". Another notable Abegail from this period was Abegail Adams, the wife of John Adams, the second President of the United States. She was a strong advocate for women's rights and played a crucial role in the American Revolution.
In the 19th century, the name Abegail became more widely used in the United States, particularly among Puritan families who were influenced by the biblical roots of the name. One famous bearer of the name from this time was Abegail May Alcott, the sister of the celebrated author Louisa May Alcott.
Other notable figures named Abegail throughout history include Abegail Hawkins, a 17th-century English poet and author; Abegail Sinclair, a 19th-century Scottish missionary and educator in India; and Abegail Folger, one of the victims of the infamous Manson Family murders in 1969.
People
Abegail + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abegail 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
Abegail: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abegail?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 505 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abegail 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 678,721 US residents.
Is Abegail a common name?
We classify Abegail as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 515 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abegail most popular?
The single biggest year for Abegail was 2000, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abegail is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Abegail a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Abegail 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.
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.