Abigail (name)

For usage of the single name "Abigail", see Abigail (disambiguation). For a spelling variant, see Avigail (name).
Abigail
Abigail in a stained glass window in the Church of Notre-Dame de Neuvizy
Pronunciation/ˈæbɪɡeɪl/ AB-i-gayl
GenderFemale
Language(s)Hebrew language
Origin
MeaningMy father's joy
Other names
See alsoAbby, 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.

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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