Abigail (name)
_%C3%89glise_Notre-Dame,_vitrail_07.JPG) | |
| 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: אֲבִיגַיִל / אֲבִיגָיִל ʾĂḇīḡayīl, 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
- Greek: Άμπιγκεϊλ (Ámpinkeïl)
- 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)
- Romanian: Abigaela
- Russian: Эбиге́йл (Ebigeil) or Авиге́я (Avigeya); the latter used exclusively 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 (Abigeil)
- 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 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 Morris (born 1964), British arts administrator
- Abigail Morris (born 1999), British singer-songwriter
- 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
[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.
- Abigail, the titular vampire character with the appearance of a 12-year-old girl in the 2024 horror comedy film Abigail
- 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 Bennett, one of the main protagonists in the 2019 short drama film Abigail
- 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 Brown, a character in Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- 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 Mathers, a stranger and freaks character in Grand Theft Auto V
- Abigail Mills, character in Sleepy Hollow (TV series)
- Abigail Murfitt, a character in the Paradise Barn novels, written by Victor Watson
- 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
- Abigail Scanlan, one of the leads in the ABC Family movie Revenge of the Bridesmaids, played by Raven-Symoné
- 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
See also
[edit]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.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.