Abigail
Meaning of Abigail
Abigail is a Hebrew name, from Avigayil, commonly translated as my father is joy or father’s joy. In the Hebrew Bible, Abigail is the intelligent and beautiful wife of Nabal; she persuades David not to take revenge on her husband, and after Nabal’s death she becomes one of David’s wives. The name was common among the Puritans and has remained in use in English-speaking countries.
In English it is pronounced AB-ih-gayl, with the stress on the first syllable. Spanish speakers say ah-BEE-hail, and Italian speakers say ah-BEE-lah. The English pronunciation is the same in American and British usage.
Beyond the biblical figure, the name is associated with Abigail Williams, one of the accusers in the Salem witch trials and a central character in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. Actress Abigail Breslin, nominated for an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, is a well-known contemporary bearer.
Abigail rose sharply from 176th in 1980 to a peak of 4th in 2005. It entered the top 10 in 2001 and has since declined; in 2025 it ranked 41st, with 4,941 girls given the name, still a common choice.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as AB-i-gayl (/ˈæb.əˌɡeɪl/)
Spanish
- Pronunced as ah-BEE-hail (/aβiˈxail/)
Italian
- Pronunced as ah-BEE-lah (/aˈbi.la/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Abigail
| Abigail Breslin is an American actress who rose to fame at 10 with Little Miss Sunshine, earning an Oscar nod, and later appeared in films like Zombieland and Enders Game and the TV series Scream Queens. |
| Abigail Fillmore, a former teacher who once taught her future husband, served as second lady in 1849 and first lady from 1850 to 1853 while balancing family life in Buffalo with supporting Millard Fillmore's political rise. |
| Abigail Edna Disney is an American documentary filmmaker, philanthropist, and activist from the Disney family, known for Pray the Devil Back to Hell, the Emmy winning The Armor of Light, and The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales. |
| Abigail May Alcott Nieriker was an American artist, the youngest sister of Louisa May Alcott, and the real life inspiration for Amy in Little Women, born Abigail May and later known as May. |
| Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa - Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa, known as Princess Abigail and sometimes called Kekau, was a Native Hawaiian American heiress, equestrian, and philanthropist who championed Hawaiian culture and was a descendant of the royal House of Kawananakoa. |
| Abigail Scott Duniway - Abigail Jane Scott Duniway was an American womens rights advocate, newspaper editor, and writer who helped win women the right to vote. |
| Abigail Spencer is an American actress known for All My Children, Angela's Eyes, Rectify which earned her a Critics Choice nomination, and Timeless. |
| Abigail Pogrebin is an American writer and journalist who hosts a Tablet magazine podcast and served as Jewish outreach director for Michael Bloomberg in the 2020 presidential campaign. |
| Abigail Minis, a European immigrant who arrived in Savannah in 1733 with her husband, became a prominent businesswoman and landowner during the American Revolutionary War after General James Oglethorpe welcomed her family and granted them land. |
| Abigail Adams Eliot was a pioneering early childhood educator, NAEYC founding member, 1930s New England nursery school leader, co-founder of a mental health center, and namesake of the Tufts University Eliot-Pearson department. |
| Abigail Pierrepont Johnson is an American billionaire heiress and CEO of Fidelity Investments, the firm her grandfather founded, with her family owning about 40 percent. |
| Abigail Cowen is an American actress and model known for playing Dorcas in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Bloom in Netflix live action adaptation of Winx Club called Fate The Winx Saga. |
| Abigail Michal Spears is a former American tennis player who won 21 doubles titles, including the 2017 Australian Open. |
| Abigail Varela is a Venezuelan sculptor known for bronze works of abstract pre Columbian inspired feminine figures in motion. |
| Abigail Hawk is an American actress best known for Blue Bloods and Almost Paris, for which she won the 2017 Golden Door Film Festival Best Actress award. |
