Abigayle
Father's joy or source of joy.
Name Census estimates that about 6,049 living Americans carry the first name Abigayle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Abigayle today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abigayle births was 2005 (354 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abigayle. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Abigayle with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.0K
~ 1 in 56,663 Americans
Peak year
2005
354 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2004 SSA rank
#5,421
Tracked since 1968
Census
Abigayle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,067 people with the first name Abigayle, which placed it at #3,875 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,875
National first-name rank
People counted
5.1K
5,067 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abigayle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abigayle is White at 84.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Abigayle described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Abigayle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.7% · 4,293
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 300
- Two or more races5.1% · 257
- Black or African American2.0% · 100
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 84
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 33
Gender
Gender distribution for Abigayle
Out of the 6,162 babies given the name Abigayle since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Abigayle as a male name
- Ranked #11,373 in 2004
- 5 male births in 2004
- Peak: 2004 (5 births)
Abigayle as a female name
- Ranked #5,421 in 2024
- 23 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (354 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abigayle appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,073 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Abigayle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abigayle from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 3,257 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abigayle by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Abigayle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abigayles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Abigayle, while Wyoming, Rhode Island, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 105 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Abigayle
The name Abigayle originated from the Hebrew name Avigayil, which means "father's joy" or "source of joy." It is derived from the Hebrew words "av," meaning father, and "gil," meaning joy or rejoicing. The name has been in use since ancient times and can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Abigayle is in the Book of Samuel, where it refers to a woman named Abigail, who was the wife of Nabal and later became the wife of King David. Abigail is described as a woman of great wisdom and intelligence, who prevented a conflict between her husband and David.
Throughout history, the name Abigayle has been used by various notable individuals. One of the most famous was Abigail Adams (1744-1818), the wife of the second President of the United States, John Adams. She was a strong advocate for women's rights and played a significant role in the early years of the American Republic.
Another well-known Abigayle was Abigail Van Buren (1918-2013), an American advice columnist who wrote the famous "Dear Abby" column for over 50 years under the pen name Abigail Van Buren. Her column offered practical advice on a wide range of topics and was syndicated in numerous newspapers across the United States.
In the literary world, Abigail Rountree (1672-1761) was an English writer and poet who is considered one of the earliest female writers to have her works published in England. Her book of poems, "Poems on Several Occasions," was published in 1696.
Abigail Breslin (born in 1996) is a modern-day American actress who rose to prominence at a young age for her role in the film "Little Miss Sunshine." She has since appeared in numerous other films and television shows and has received several awards and nominations for her acting.
Abigail Folger (1943-1969) was an American heiress and socialite who gained tragic notoriety as one of the victims of the Manson Family murders in 1969. Her murder, along with several others, shocked the nation and became a significant part of American cultural history.
People
Abigayle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abigayle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Abigayle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abigayle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,049 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abigayle going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 56,663 US residents.
Is Abigayle a common name?
We classify Abigayle as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,162 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abigayle most popular?
The single biggest year for Abigayle was 2005, when 354 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abigayle is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abigayle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,067 people with the name Abigayle, or 1.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,875 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Abigayle in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Abigayle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abigayle appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,073 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Abigayle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abigayle is White at 84.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Abigayle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Abigayle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.7% (4,293 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Abigayle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abigayle a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Abigayle in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Abigayle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abigayle in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Abigayle can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Abigayle?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.