Abigail (name)

Abigail
	Abigail in a stained glass window in the Church of Notre-Dame de Neuvizy
Pronunciation	/ˈæbɪɡeɪl/ AB-i-gayl
Gender	Female
Language(s)	Hebrew language
Origin
Meaning	My father's joy
Other names
See also	Abby, Abbie, Abbey, Abi, Gail, Gayle, Gale

Abigail is a feminine given name. The name comes from the Biblical Hebrew name Hebrew: אֲבִיגַיִל / אֲבִיגָיִל ʾĂvî-Ghayil, meaning "my father's joy" (alternatively "my father is exulted" or "my father is joyful", among others).^[1]^[2] It is also a surname.

The name can be shortened to "Abbey", "Abby", "Abbi", "Abbie", "Abi", "Abs", or "Aby", as well as "Gail", "Gayle", among others.

Biblical name[edit]

Abigail was the wife of King David in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Samuel, and is described as an intelligent, beautiful, loyal woman.
Abigail was the mother of Amasa, the commander-in-chief of Absalom's army (2 Samuel 17:25).^[3]

Translations[edit]

Arabic: ابيجايل "Abigail" (Egypt) ابيغيل "Abighail" (other Arab countries).
Bengali: এবিগেল (Ēbigēla)
Biblical Greek: Abigaia
Biblical Hebrew: אביגיל
Bulgarian: Абигейл
Catalan: Abigail
Cantonese: 阿比基爾 (aa³ bei⁵ gei¹ ji⁵)
Chinese Simplified: 阿比盖尔 (Ā bǐ gài ěr)
Chinese Traditional: 艾比蓋兒
Danish: Abigail, Abigael
Dutch: Abigail, Abigaïl
Fijian: Apikali
French: Abigaïl, Abigaël
German: Abigail
Gujarati: એબીગેઇલ (Ēbīgē'ila)
Haitian Creole: Abigayèl
Hawaiian: Apikalia, ʻApikaʻila
Hebrew: אביגיל, Avigail / Abigail, אֲבִיגָיִל (ʾĂḇîḡáyil)
Hindi: सेविका (Sēvikā)
Hungarian: Abigél
Indonesian: Abigail
Irish: Abigeál
Italian: Abigaille
Japanese: アビゲイル (Abigeiru)
Korean: 애비게일 (Aebigeil)
Macedonian: Авигеја (Avigeja)
Maori: Apikaira
Mongolian: Ивээл (ᠢᠪᠡᠭᠡᠯ)
Nepali: अबीगेलले (Abīgēlalē)
Persian: آبیگل - ابیگیل - ابیگل
Portuguese: Abigail
Punjabi: ਅਬੀਗੈਲ (Abīgaila)
Russian: Авиге́я (Avigeya); used predominantly in biblical contexts^[4]
Serbian: Абигејл (Abigejl) but in biblical context Ависага (Avisaga) is used
Somali: Abiigayil
Spanish: Abigaíl
Swahili: Abigaeli
Swedish: Abigail
Turkish: Abigail, Avigayil
Ukrainian: Абіґейл
Urdu: ابیگیل
Yiddish: אַביגאַיל
Yoruba: Ábígẹlì

People with the given name[edit]

Abigail Adams née Smith (1744–1818), First Lady of the United States to President John Adams
Abigail Abbot Bailey (1746–1815), American memoirist
Abigail Binay (born 1975), Filipina politician
Abigail Breslin (born 1996), American actress
Abigail Byskata (born 2007), Finnish ice hockey player
Abigail Camilleri, Maltese politician
Abbey Clancy (born 1986), English model
Abigail Conceição de Souza (1921–2007), Brazilian footballer
Abbie Cornish (born 1982), Australian actress
Abigail Cowen (born 1998), American actress
Abigail Cruttenden (born 1969), English television actress
Abby Dahlkemper (born 1993), American soccer player
Abigail Fillmore née Powers (1798–1853), First Lady of the United States to President Millard Fillmore
Abigail Folger (1943–1969), American heiress and murder victim
Abigail Glen (born 2001), English cricketer
Annette Abigael Hamilton (1806–1879), Norwegian author and fairy-tale collector
Abigail and Brittany Hensel (born 1990), American conjoined twins
Abigail Franks (c. 1696–1756), Colonial-era New York City Jewish woman and letter writer
Abigael González Valencia (born 1972), Mexican suspected drug lord
Abigail Griffin, American politician
Abigail Campbell Kawānanakoa (1882–1945), Hawaiian princess
Abigail Kapiolani Kawānanakoa (1903–1961), Hawaiian princess
Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa (1926–2022), Hawaiian princess
Abigail Maheha (1832–1861), Hawaiian princess
Abigail Masham, Baroness Masham (c.1670–1734), British baroness
Abigail Paduch (born 2000), Australian judoka
Abigail (actress), aka Abigail Rogan (born 1946), Australian actress
Abigail Rogers, (1818–1869) American advocate for women's rights and women's education
Abigail Seldin (born 1988), American edtech entrepreneur
Abigail Adams Smith (1765–1813), first-born child of John Adams, the former President of the United States
Abigail Spanberger (born 1979), American politician
Abigail Spears (born 1981), American tennis player
Abigail Spencer (born 1981), American actress
Abigail Swann, American atmospheric scientist and ecologist
Abigael Tarus (born 1981), Kenyan volleyball player
Abigail Thorn (born 1993), British actress and YouTuber who runs the channel "Philosophy Tube"
Abi Titmuss (born 1976), British actress
Abigail Goodrich Whittelsey (1788–1858), American educator, publisher, editor
Abigail Williams (Salem witch trials) (1680–c.1697), a primary accuser in the Salem witch trials; portrayed in the Arthur Miller play The Crucible
Madison Abigail Less (born 1998), American soccer player

Used as a pseudonym:

Abigail Van Buren, pen name of Pauline Philips, pseudonymous author of the Dear Abby column

Fictional characters[edit]

Abigail, a character in the South Korean action-comedy webtoon series Denma
Abigail, a character in the Acts of Faith trilogy by T. Davis Bunn and Janette Oke, wife of Stephen (St. Stephen)
Abigail, a boss villain character in the Final Fight series, and most recently a playable character in Street Fighter V.
Abby, a 12-year-old vampire character in the 2010 film Let Me In
Abigaille, a character in Giuseppe Verdi's opera Nabucco
Abigail, one of the characters available for marriage in farming simulation role-playing video game Stardew Valley
Dark Priest Abigail, in the Bastard!! Japanese manga/anime series
Mother Abagail, the personification of good in Stephen King's novel The Stand
Princess Abigail, the haughty daughter of King Midas on the ABC television series, Once Upon A Time
Abigail the Breeze Fairy, a character from the Rainbow Magic book franchise
Abigail Anderson (aka Abby or Abs), playable character in Naughty Dog's videogame The Last of Us Part II
Abigail "Abby" Archer, the main protagonist in the Canadian animated television series Grossology
Abbey Bartlet, the First Lady of the United States in the television drama The West Wing
Abigail Bellweather, a character from the TV series Motherland: Fort Salem
Abigail Bird, a supporting character in the 1976–2000 American comic strip Motley's Crew
Abigail Brand, Special Agent, commanding officer of S.W.O.R.D., that deals with defending the Earth from extraterrestrial threats
Abi Branning, in the BBC soap opera EastEnders
Abigail Callaghan, a minor character from the 2014 Disney 3D computer-animated film Big Hero 6
Abigail Chase in National Treasure film franchise
Abigail Deveraux, student in the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives
Abigail Dixon, a student in the Australian mockumentary Summer Heights High
Abby Hammond, daughter character in the television series Santa Clarita Diet
Abby Hatcher, the eponymous protagonist in the Nick Jr. animated television series Abby Hatcher
Abby Holland, DC Comics character
Abigail Lincoln (aka Numbuh 5), a female black character from the Cartoon Network animated television series Codename: Kids Next Door
Abby Lockhart, medical doctor in the television drama ER
Abby Maitland, zoologist in the British television series Primeval
Abigail Mills, character in Sleepy Hollow (TV series)
Abigail Pershing, formerly known as Abagail Merriwick, is a main character in the Hallmark Channel original series The Good Witch
Abigail Roberts, the name of John Marston's wife in Red Dead Redemption and RDR 2
Abigail Rook, protagonist of the Jackaby novel series
Abby Sciuto, forensic scientist in the television drama NCIS
Abigail Stevenson, in The Baby-sitters Club children's book series by Ann Martin
Abigail Stone, a supporting Jewish character from the 2021 animated film Spirit Untamed
Abigail Jane Stewart in Kristiana Gregory's The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart
Abigail Stock, a supporting character in the British television series Skins
Abigail Trant, a character from the 1991 film The Man in the Moon
Abigail Williams, character in the CBS soap opera As the World Turns
Abigail Zenobia, a daughter of Valentine Michael Smith and Anne in the 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land

People with the surname[edit]

Francis Abigail (1840–1921), Australian politician
Peter Abigail (born 1948), Australian army officer
Robert Abigail (born 1980), Dutch DJ

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford paperback reference. Oxford University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1. Retrieved 2018-11-17.
^ from either the verbal root g-y-l "to rejoice" directly, or from the root noun gil "rejoicing, joy". Adele Berlin in: Carol L. Meyers, Toni Craven, Ross Shepard Kraemer (eds.), Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000, p. 43
^ Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abigail". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. pp. 32. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
^ Superanskaya, p. 250

Sources[edit]

А. В. Суперанская (A. V. Superanskaya). "Современный словарь личных имён: Сравнение. Происхождение. Написание" (Modern Dictionary of First Names: Comparison. Origins. Spelling). Айрис-пресс. Москва, 2005. ISBN 5-8112-1399-9

This page or section lists people that share the same given name or the same family name.
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[Hanks_Hardcastle_Hodges_2006-1] Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford paperback reference. Oxford University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1. Retrieved 2018-11-17.

[2] rom either the verbal root g-y-l "to rejoice" directly, or from the root noun gil "rejoicing, joy". Adele Berlin in: Carol L. Meyers, Toni Craven, Ross Shepard Kraemer (eds.), Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000, p. 43

[EB-3] Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abigail". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. pp. 32. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.

[Superanskaya2-4] Superanskaya, p. 250

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