Abigail
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Hebrew, used since the 16th century, and currently quite popular. From Hebrew אֲבִיגַיִל (avigáyil, “Abigail”, literally “my Father's joy” or “fountain of joy”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Abigail (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Abigail has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2019. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 5 |
| 2005 | 4 |
| 2006 | 4 |
| 2007 | 6 |
| 2008 | 10 |
| 2009 | 7 |
| 2010 | 13 |
| 2011 | 15 |
| 2012 | 18 |
| 2013 | 13 |
| 2014 | 17 |
| 2015 | 20 |
| 2016 | 21 |
| 2017 | 27 |
| 2018 | 26 |
| 2019 | 33 |
| 2020 | 15 |
| 2021 | 28 |
| 2022 | 23 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 36 |
| 2000 | 43 |
| 2001 | 51 |
| 2002 | 55 |
| 2003 | 62 |
| 2004 | 66 |
| 2005 | 71 |
| 2006 | 80 |
| 2007 | 88 |
| 2008 | 96 |
| 2009 | 110 |
| 2010 | 125 |
| 2011 | 139 |
| 2012 | 167 |
| 2013 | 187 |
| 2014 | 205 |
| 2015 | 237 |
| 2016 | 265 |
| 2017 | 306 |
| 2018 | 344 |
| 2019 | 398 |
| 2020 | 421 |
Abigail in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Abigail.Hi! My name is Abigail.
- Har du träffat Abigail? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Abigail? She started working here on Monday.
- Vet du om Abigail kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Abigail is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Abigails mamma är lärare.Abigail's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Abigails mamma is Abigail's mum.
More names
Questions about Abigail
How do you pronounce Abigail in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Abigail in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Abigail mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Hebrew, used since the 16th century, and currently quite popular. From Hebrew אֲבִיגַיִל (avigáyil, “Abigail”, literally “my Father's joy” or “fountain of joy”).
How popular is Abigail in Sweden?
23 babies were named Abigail in 2022. In 2020, 421 people in Sweden had Abigail as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2019 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.