Abigail (name)

Abigail is a feminine given name. The name comes from the Biblical Hebrew name אֲבִיגַיִל / אֲבִיגָיִל ʾĂvî-Ghayil, meaning "my father's joy" (alternatively "my father is exulted" or "my father is joyful", among others). 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

 * 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).

Translations

 * 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: अबीगैल
 * 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
 * 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

 * Abigail Adams née Smith (1744–1818), First Lady of the United States to President John Adams
 * Abigail Abbot Bailey (1746–1815), American memoirist
 * Abigail Bauleke (born 2001), American wheelchair basketball player
 * Abigail Binay (born 1975), Filipina politician
 * Abigail Breslin (born 1996), American actress
 * Abigail Byskata (born 2007), Finnish ice hockey player
 * Abigail Camilleri, Maltese politician
 * Abi Carter (born 2002), American singer and musician
 * 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
 * Abi Morgan (born 1968), Welsh playwright and screenwriter
 * 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 Van Buren, pen name of Pauline Philips, pseudonymous author of the Dear Abby column
 * 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

Fictional characters

 * 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 Red Dead Redemption 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

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