girls' name ★ peaked 2003

Abigail

Meaning Abigail Gender Girl Rank 2025 #41 Trend ↓ Falling 38%

From Hebrew אֲבִיגַיִל (avigáyil, “Abigail”, literally “my Father's joy” or “fountain of joy”).

Rank 2025
#41
among girls · ↓9 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
4,941
named Abigail · -11% vs 2024
How common
1 in 325
girls born in 2025
Peak year
2003
15,955 babies
All-time total
413,935
#89 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Abigail popularity over time

413,935 babies have been named Abigail since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
2.557.51018801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 133 – 133 13 – #492
1890s 128 – 128 13 -4% #630
1900s 136 – 136 14 +6% #760
1910s 270 – 270 27 +99% #1,031
1920s 322 – 322 32 +19% #1,210
1930s 365 – 365 37 +13% #974
1940s 647 – 647 65 +77% #823
1950s 1,671 – 1,671 167 +158% #694
1960s 2,411 – 2,411 241 +44% #590
1970s 6,704 6 6,710 671 +178% #213
1980s 20,658 117 20,775 2,078 +210% #94
1990s 72,779 147 72,926 7,293 +251% #18
2000s 150,926 259 151,185 15,119 +107% #4
2010s 118,734 122 118,856 11,886 -21% #7
2020s (to 2025) 37,379 21 37,400 6,233 -48% #12

Where Abigail is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 4,562 2.84 #48
2027 4,263 2.65 #49
2028 4,024 2.50 #55
2029 3,831 2.38 #60
2030 3,675 2.29 #63

Where Abigail is most popular

Girls named Abigail per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 3.63 per 1,000. Strongest in Alaska, Wyoming, and New Hampshire.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Abigail born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Alaska 82 9.52 +162%
Wyoming 39 9.15 +152%
New Hampshire 146 7.91 +118%
Delaware 88 7.76 +114%
Maine 110 7.11 +96%
Vermont 34 7.01 +93%
District of Columbia 82 6.92 +91%
Idaho 231 6.90 +90%
Rhode Island 86 6.87 +89%
New Mexico 155 6.37 +76%
West Virginia 165 6.30 +73%
Oregon 381 5.85 +61%
South Dakota 82 5.74 +58%
Virginia 970 5.69 +57%
Massachusetts 637 5.27 +45%
Washington 759 5.25 +45%
Maryland 550 5.19 +43%
Arkansas 272 5.15 +42%
Connecticut 297 5.10 +41%
Montana 69 5.10 +40%
New Jersey 903 5.00 +38%
Kansas 287 4.97 +37%
Colorado 539 4.83 +33%
South Carolina 430 4.78 +32%
Nevada 217 4.67 +29%
Alabama 438 4.66 +28%
Utah 388 4.66 +28%
Oklahoma 343 4.66 +28%
North Carolina 1,055 4.63 +28%
California 3,856 4.59 +26%
North Dakota 60 4.56 +26%
Kentucky 387 4.52 +25%
Florida 1,898 4.44 +22%
Arizona 622 4.43 +22%
Tennessee 692 4.37 +20%
Pennsylvania 1,016 4.30 +18%
New York 1,671 4.22 +16%
Georgia 953 4.19 +16%
Nebraska 149 4.14 +14%
Missouri 491 4.07 +12%
Illinois 921 4.02 +11%
Texas 3,216 4.00 +10%
Michigan 723 3.97 +9%
Indiana 556 3.96 +9%
Minnesota 416 3.85 +6%
Ohio 891 3.76 ≈ national
Mississippi 175 3.74 ≈ national
Louisiana 311 3.55 ≈ national
Wisconsin 365 3.54 ≈ national
Iowa 207 3.54 ≈ national
Hawaii 40 3.49 ≈ national

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Abigail

Abigail is a top-50 name for girls in the United States, ranked #41 in 2025 with 4,941 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 413,935 American babies have been named Abigail. Its peak came in 2003, when 15,955 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2000s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Abigail stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Abigail?

The median living Abigail is about 19 years old; half are between 11 and 26. An estimated 408 thousand people named Abigail are alive in the United States today.

median 19 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Abigail year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 4,941 #41 – –
2024 5,535 #32 – –
2023 5,687 #31 9 #8,266
2022 6,306 #24 6 #10,885
2021 6,993 #17 6 #10,816
2020 7,917 #12 – –
2019 9,196 #11 11 #7,178
2018 9,879 #11 13 #6,352
2017 10,645 #10 6 #10,790
2016 11,796 #8 10 #7,609
2015 12,422 #7 10 #7,496
2014 12,114 #8 13 #6,312
2013 12,429 #8 16 #5,406
2012 12,730 #7 13 #6,310
2011 13,266 #7 21 #4,509
2010 14,257 #7 9 #8,151
2009 14,401 #8 16 #5,557
2008 15,088 #8 20 #4,716
2007 15,476 #8 27 #3,795
2006 15,633 #6 16 #5,306
2005 15,756 #4 13 #5,876
2004 15,436 #6 89 #1,502
2003 15,932 #6 23 #3,732
2002 15,303 #7 20 #4,046
2001 14,807 #8 19 #4,122
2000 13,094 #14 16 #4,574
1995 7,825 #36 12 #4,792
1990 3,719 #90 20 #3,058
1985 1,848 #153 12 #3,601
1980 1,577 #176 11 #3,615
1975 615 #353 – –
1970 362 #526 – –
1965 209 #679 – –
1960 228 #673 – –
1955 180 #700 – –
1950 112 #824 – –
1945 53 #1,080 – –
1940 48 #1,035 – –
1935 37 #1,162 – –
1930 25 #1,569 – –
1925 37 #1,296 – –
1920 33 #1,375 – –
1915 38 #1,094 – –
1910 16 #1,110 – –
1905 11 #1,162 – –
1900 14 #1,008 – –
1895 15 #815 – –
1890 9 #940 – –
1885 9 #745 – –
1880 12 #492 – –

Famous people named Abigail

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Abigail Spencer Abigail Spencer American actress (born 1981) Contemporary
  2. 2 Abigail Breslin Abigail Breslin American actress (born 1996) Contemporary
  3. 3 Abigail Adams Abigail Adams First Lady of the United States from 1797 to 1801 1744–1818 · 18th century
  4. 4 Abigail Johnson Abigail Johnson American billionaire and businesswoman b. 1961 · Contemporary
  5. 5 Abigail Abigail Wife of King David in the Bible b. -1040 · Antiquity
  6. 6 Abigail Fillmore Abigail Fillmore First Lady of the United States from 1850 to 1853 1798–1853 · 18th century
  7. 7 Abigail Spears Abigail Spears American tennis player b. 1981 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Abigail, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Abigail?

The median living Abigail is about 19 years old. Half of all living Abigails are between 11 and 26 years old.

How many people named Abigail are alive today?

An estimated 408 thousand people named Abigail are alive in the United States, based on 413,935 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Abigail mean?

From Hebrew אֲבִיגַיִל (avigáyil, “Abigail”, literally “my Father's joy” or “fountain of joy”).

How popular is the name Abigail in 2025?

Abigail ranked #41 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 4,941 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Abigail?

413,935 babies have been named Abigail in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Abigail most popular?

Abigail peaked in 2003, when 15,955 newborns received the name.

Is Abigail a boy or girl name?

Abigail is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Abigail rising or falling?

Abigail is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Abigail become more popular?

Abigail is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 3,675 girls named Abigail in 2030, which would rank around #63. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Abigail?

Well-known people named Abigail include Abigail Spencer (actor), Abigail Breslin (actor), Abigail Adams (companion).

Names like Abigail

Names that sound and feel close to Abigail: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Abigail with similar names → More names starting with A →