Abigail
Abigail is a girls' name of Hebrew origin meaning “my father is joyful.” It ranked #8 in the United States in 2025. In the Hebrew Bible, Abigail was the wise and beautiful wife of Nabal who later married King David.
how do you pronounce Abigail?
AB-ih-gayl
Hear it spoken aloud with our AI pronunciation tool.
what does Abigail mean?
The name Abigail means “my father is joyful.” It comes from the Hebrew language tradition.
In the Hebrew Bible, Abigail was the wise and beautiful wife of Nabal who later married King David. The name has been a staple of English-speaking countries since the Puritan era.
where does the name Abigail come from?
From the Hebrew אֲבִיגַיִל (Avigayil), joining av, meaning father, with gil, meaning joy or rejoicing. It reads as my father is joy, or my father rejoices — a construction typical of Hebrew names that make a statement about the family rather than the child.
the history of Abigail
In the first book of Samuel, Abigail intervenes to prevent David from taking revenge on her husband Nabal, and later marries David herself. English Puritans took up the name in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A servant character called Abigail in Beaumont and Fletcher's 1616 play The Scornful Lady was so familiar that abigail became an ordinary English noun for a lady's maid.
how popular is this name?
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2024 | #8 |
| 2023 | #8 |
| 2022 | #8 |
| 2021 | #8 |
| 2020 | #8 |
Source: SSA National Baby Names Dataset
what are the nicknames and variants of Abigail?
Nicknames
Variants around the world
who are famous people named Abigail?
- Abigail Adams (First Lady of the United States)
- Abigail Breslin (actress)
- Abigail Spencer (actress)
what names are similar to Abigail?
what names go well with Abigail?
Sibling names that share Abigail's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.
Last reviewed April 30, 2026 · Curated by HushName editorial
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