Girls' name · since 1880

Abigail

Abigail has 413,263 recorded births since 1880 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 2003 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.

#89 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#41 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
413,263
born since 1880
2000s
peak decade

413,263 babies have been named Abigail since 1880, making it today's #41 girls' name.

Abigail has 413,263 recorded births among girls since 1880, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #41 as of the latest data, more common than 99.8% of girls, busiest in the 2000s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.

  • #89 of 72,339 all-time among girls
  • #41 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
  • 413,263 born since 1880
  • 2000s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Abigail ranks #89 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #41 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 413,263 born since 1880, peaking in the 2000s.

#89 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#41 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
413,263
born since 1880
2000s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%99.7%
Abigail vs. every other girls name in current SSA rankings
Upper archive tier
All-time archive position

Abigail's 413,263 recorded births place it above 99.87% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.

51 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

51 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by California.

How Abigail compares

413,263 Top 1% higher than 99% of 17,297 names currently given to girls

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Abigail's all-time total is 1,099x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Abigail Median girls name (Kyann) #1 girls name (Olivia)
All-time total births 413,263 376 567,345
Peak-year births 15,932 21 19,840

Abigail's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Abigail splits its recorded history at 1953: 99% of all births land in the more recent half, 1% in the earlier half, a lean toward present-day use rather than a passing spike. The single quietest year was 1899 (7 births) -- compare that against the 2003 peak of 15,932 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.

Abigail popularity over time - girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025

Top 100 girls' name
Peak year (2003)
15,932
Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
05,00010,00015,00020,000 188018991918193719561975199420132025 4,941

Abigail popularity over time - boys

672 total births recorded since 1976 (Abigail as boys' name)

Unisex variant - 672 births
020406080100 197619851991199720032009201520222023 9

Abigail by decade

2000s is the heaviest window (150,926 births, 37% of the file).

2000s was Abigail's strongest decade.

150,926 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 37% of all-time use.

Abigail births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 2000s at 150,926 births (37% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

How Abigail compares to similarly-sized names

Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Abigail's total volume

Abigail vs 15 similarly-sized girls names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 2%3%4%5%6% 406080100120140160 New & already peakedOld name, single-era peakNew & still diversifyingLong history, steady all along Years in SSA records % of total births in the single peak year -145, 3%-146, 4.5%-146, 5.5%-56, 5.3%-132, 3.9%-146, 3%-135, 2.8%-146, 2.6%-146, 5.1%-117, 5.5%-104, 4.6%-146, 5.5%-145, 2.6%-146, 2.6%-146, 2.9%Abigail-146, 3.9%Abigail
Abigail vs 15 similarly-sized girls names

Abigail by state

Where Abigail concentrates geographically, total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Abigail
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
42,154 10.2%
#2 Texas
38,521 9.3%
#3 New York
22,561 5.5%
#4 Ohio
18,762 4.5%
#5 Florida
18,632 4.5%
#6 Pennsylvania
18,233 4.4%
#7 Illinois
18,178 4.4%
#8 Michigan
13,213 3.2%
California share of Abigail's total US births 10.2%
Even split

42,154 of 413,263 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Abigail appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Abigail?
413,263 babies have been named Abigail since 1880. All-time, it sits at #89 of 72,339 girls' names by recorded births. In 2025, it ranks #41 of 17,297 among girls. The peak year was 2003 with 15,932 births.
Where does Abigail sit in the SSA name archive?
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Abigail ranks #89 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #41 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Abigail most popular?
Abigail was most popular in the 2000s decade with 150,926 total births. The single peak year was 2003.
Where is Abigail most popular?
The top states for the name Abigail are California (42,154 births), Texas (38,521 births), New York (22,561 births).
How long has the name Abigail been used?
The SSA has tracked Abigail since 1880 -- 146 years through the most recent 2025 data.
What names are similar to Abigail?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Abigayle, Abigale, Abigael, Abilene, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

What to do with Abigail's data

  • Abigail's decade-level peak was the 2000s (150,926 total births); usage has since declined to 37,379 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
  • California records the most Abigails (42,154 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. California names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Abigail

Nearby Names Like Abigail

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Abigail

Names with a similar popularity rank to Abigail

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Abigail: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Abigail draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.