Abi
A Hebrew feminine name meaning "my father's delight" or "father's joy".
Name Census estimates that about 630 living Americans carry the first name Abi. It is a predominantly female name (96.6% of registrations). The average person named Abi today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abi births was 2007 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abi. 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 Abi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
630
~ 1 in 544,055 Americans
Peak year
2007
32 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2012 SSA rank
#6,145
Tracked since 1973
Census
Abi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,054 people with the first name Abi, which placed it at #7,439 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
#7,439
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,054 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abi is White at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.7%). 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 Abi 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 Abi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.3% · 950
- Hispanic or Latino26.8% · 550
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.7% · 282
- Black or African American10.0% · 206
- Two or more races2.9% · 60
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Abi
Abi leans heavily female at 96.6% of total registrations, but 22 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Abi as a male name
- Ranked #12,295 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 2007 (6 births)
Abi as a female name
- Ranked #6,145 in 2024
- 19 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (27 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Abi on both sides of the split. Of the 2,059 people counted with this name, 459 were male (22.3%) and 1,600 were female (77.7%).
Popularity
Abi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 197 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Abi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abi 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 Abi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Abi
The name Abi is a diminutive form of the Hebrew name Abigail, which means "father's joy" or "source of joy." It has its origins in ancient Hebrew culture and can be traced back to the biblical figure Abigail, who was known for her wisdom and courage in the Old Testament.
In the Book of Samuel, Abigail is described as a beautiful and intelligent woman who intervened to prevent her husband Nabal from being killed by King David. Her actions and diplomatic skills impressed David, and she later became his wife. This biblical account from around the 10th century BCE is one of the earliest recorded instances of the name Abigail, from which Abi is derived.
The name Abi gained popularity in various cultures and languages over time. In Arabic, the name Abi is a separate name meaning "my father" or "father of." It is commonly used as a prefix in Arabic names, such as Abidullah (father of the faith) or Abrahim (father of many).
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Abi was Abi ibn Abi Talib, a prominent military commander and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century CE. He played a significant role in the early Muslim conquests and the establishment of the Rashidun Caliphate.
In the Middle Ages, the name Abi was used in various European cultures, often as a shortened form of Abigail or as a derivative of other names. One notable figure was Abi of Fleury, a Benedictine monk and scholar who lived in the 10th century and wrote several influential works on liturgy and ecclesiastical history.
During the Renaissance period, the name Abi gained popularity in Italy and other parts of Europe. Abi Battista, an Italian architect and engineer from the 16th century, was known for his work on fortifications and hydraulic engineering projects.
In more recent history, Abi Ofarim was a famous Israeli singer and actress who rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s. She was known for her unique blend of folk and pop music, and her hit song "Cinderella Rockefella" became an international success.
Other notable individuals with the name Abi include Abi Morgan, a British playwright and screenwriter who wrote the critically acclaimed films Shame and The Iron Lady; Abi Titmuss, an English model and television personality; and Abi Tucker, a British singer-songwriter and musician.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Abi
People
Abi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abi 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
Abi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 630 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abi 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 544,055 US residents.
Is Abi a common name?
We classify Abi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 644 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abi most popular?
The single biggest year for Abi was 2007, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abi is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,054 people with the name Abi, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,439 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 Abi 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 Abi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Abi on both sides of the split. Of the 2,059 people counted with this name, 459 were male (22.3%) and 1,600 were female (77.7%). 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 Abi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abi is White at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.7%). 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 Abi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Abi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.3% (950 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 Abi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abi a female name?
Yes, 96.6% of people registered as Abi 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 Abi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abi 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 Abi 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 have the name Abi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.