Abigail
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "father's joy".
Roughly 398,976 people in the United States go by the first name Abigail, which ranks #32 nationally when sorted by estimated living bearers. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Abigail today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abigail births was 2003 (15,955 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Henry (395,153).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abigail. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Abigail is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 672 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
399K
~ 1 in 859 Americans
Peak year
2003
15,955 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2023 SSA rank
#32
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Abigail
Out of the 408,907 babies given the name Abigail since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Abigail as a male name
- Ranked #8,261 in 2023
- 9 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2004 (89 births)
Abigail as a female name
- Ranked #32 in 2024
- 5,499 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (15,932 births)
Popularity
Abigail: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abigail from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 151,182 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abigail 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 Abigail during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abigails live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Abigail, while Wyoming, Hawaii, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7,944 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Abigail
The name Abigail has its origins in the Hebrew language. It is derived from the Hebrew phrase "abiy ga'il," which translates to "father's joy" or "source of joy." The name can be traced back to the Old Testament of the Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of a wise and virtuous woman who becomes the wife of David after the death of her first husband, Nabal.
The earliest recorded use of the name Abigail dates back to the 11th century BCE, when it appeared in the biblical Book of Samuel. In this text, Abigail is described as a woman of great intelligence and diplomacy, who intervenes to prevent bloodshed between her husband and David's men.
Throughout history, the name Abigail has been borne by several notable figures. One of the earliest was Abigail Adams (1744-1818), the wife of the second US President, John Adams. She was a strong advocate for women's rights and played a significant role in shaping the early political landscape of the United States.
Another famous Abigail was Abigail Williams (1680-1697), a key accuser during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-1693. Her allegations against several women in Salem Village, Massachusetts, led to their execution for alleged witchcraft.
In the realm of literature, Abigail Hill is a character in the novel "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders" by Daniel Defoe, published in 1722. She is portrayed as a cunning and manipulative woman who uses her charm to advance her social standing.
The name Abigail also has a connection to the American Revolution. Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818), wife of John Adams, was a prominent figure who advocated for women's rights and played a crucial role in shaping the early political landscape of the United States.
In more recent times, Abigail Van Buren (1918-2013), whose real name was Pauline Esther Friedman, was a renowned advice columnist who wrote the "Dear Abby" column for over five decades, offering guidance to millions of readers on a wide range of personal and social issues.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Abigail
People
Abigail + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abigail 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
Abigail: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abigail?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 398,976 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abigail 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 859 US residents.
Is Abigail a common name?
We classify Abigail as "Common". It ranks above 99.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 408,907 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abigail most popular?
The single biggest year for Abigail was 2003, when 15,955 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abigail is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Abigail a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Abigail 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.