Abby

What Abby means

Diminutive of Abigail, meaning “my Father's joy”

diminutive of the female given name Abigail || From Hebrew אֲבִיגַיִל (avigáyil, “Abigail”, literally “my Father's joy” or “fountain of joy”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Abby” (revision 91169927) and “Abigail” (revision 94534293), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Abby?

US: Falling: down from #434 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #831 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2003, when 2,048 girls got the name (#164 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 4,241 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 25,328 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,578 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in IA (0.68 per 1,000 girls), CT (0.61 per 1,000 girls), KY (0.58 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Abby is #731 in the US and #2605 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Abby were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Ebba26 US · 15 E&W
• Abbey21 US
• Aby12 US
• Abi10 US
• Abbi7 US
• Abba5 US
• Aba0 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Abbe
• Abbey
• Abbi
• Abbie
• Abi
• Abbee

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Abby

Girls

• Karla#799Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1964, with 2,060 babies; 340 in 2025
• Anna#107Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #107 in 2025
• Alyssa#453“a plant of the genus Alyssum”^*
• Jenna#679Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 6,436 babies; 418 in 2025
• Gabriela#317Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2003, with 3,362 babies; 961 in 2025
• Hannah#56“grace, gracious, graced with child”^*

For a brother

• Seth#581“chosen one, appointed, placed”^*
• Carlos#150Spanish and Portuguese form of Charles, meaning “free man”^*
• Nathaniel#140“God has given”^*
• Nathan#63“gave”^*
• Jacob#43“May He Heel”^*
• Samuel#18“God has set or God has placed”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Germanic, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Abby’s. Rank is US 2025.