Abishai
A masculine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "father of gifts".
Name Census estimates that about 339 living Americans carry the first name Abishai. It is a predominantly male name (92.4% of registrations). The average person named Abishai today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abishai births was 2022 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abishai. 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 Abishai with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
339
~ 1 in 1,011,075 Americans
Peak year
2022
25 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,306
Tracked since 1995
Census
Abishai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 287 people with the first name Abishai, which placed it at #30,385 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
#30,385
National first-name rank
People counted
287
287 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
30.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abishai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abishai is Hispanic at 30.7%. The next largest groups are White (27.9%) and Black (17.4%). 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 Abishai 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 Abishai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino30.7% · 88
- White27.9% · 80
- Black or African American17.4% · 50
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.1% · 49
- Two or more races7.0% · 20
Gender
Gender distribution for Abishai
Abishai leans heavily male at 92.4% of total registrations, but 26 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Abishai as a male name
- Ranked #4,306 in 2024
- 24 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (25 births)
Abishai as a female name
- Ranked #14,500 in 2015
- 6 female births in 2015
- Peak: 2012 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Abishai on both sides of the split. Of the 292 people counted with this name, 233 were male (79.8%) and 59 were female (20.2%).
Popularity
Abishai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abishai from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 163 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Abishai remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abishai 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 Abishai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Abishai
The name Abishai has its origins in the Hebrew language and dates back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew words "av" meaning "father" and "shai" meaning "gift" or "present," suggesting that the name carries the meaning of "gift of the father" or "father's gift."
The earliest known references to the name Abishai can be found in the Hebrew Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of one of King David's mighty warriors and military leaders. Abishai was the son of David's sister Zeruiah and is described as a brave and loyal soldier who fought alongside his brothers Joab and Asahel in many battles.
One of the most famous biblical accounts involving Abishai is found in the book of 1 Samuel, where he accompanies David to retrieve the spear and water jug from King Saul's camp while he is sleeping. Abishai suggests killing Saul, but David refuses, as he does not want to harm the Lord's anointed king.
Throughout history, the name Abishai has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Abishai ben Phinehas, a Jewish scholar and commentator who lived in the 13th century CE and is known for his work on the Talmud.
Another prominent figure with the name Abishai was Abishai ben Mordechai, a 16th-century Jewish mystic and kabbalist from Safed, Palestine, who is believed to have had a significant influence on the development of Jewish mysticism.
In more recent times, Abishai Pollin (1860-1920) was an American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Pollin Corporation, a real estate development company in Washington, D.C. He was also a prominent member of the local Jewish community and supported various charitable causes.
Abishai Amar (1901-1981) was an Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. He served as a member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) and held various ministerial positions throughout his career.
Abishai Stein (1913-1986) was an Israeli sculptor and artist who is renowned for his monumental public artworks and sculptures, many of which can be found in various cities across Israel.
People
Abishai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abishai 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
Abishai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abishai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 339 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abishai 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 1,011,075 US residents.
Is Abishai a common name?
We classify Abishai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 342 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abishai most popular?
The single biggest year for Abishai was 2022, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abishai is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abishai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 287 people with the name Abishai, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,385 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 Abishai 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 Abishai?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Abishai on both sides of the split. Of the 292 people counted with this name, 233 were male (79.8%) and 59 were female (20.2%). 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 Abishai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abishai is Hispanic at 30.7%. The next largest groups are White (27.9%) and Black (17.4%). 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 Abishai most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Abishai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 30.7% (88 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 Abishai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abishai a male name?
Yes, 92.4% of people registered as Abishai in the SSA data are male. 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 Abishai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abishai 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 Abishai 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 called Abishai?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Abishai on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.