How popular is the baby name Abigail in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Abigail.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Abigail


Posts that mention the name Abigail

Baby name story: Valor

Actress Valora Noland (1941-2022)
Valora Noland

American actress Valora Noland played minor roles in various movies and TV shows during the 1960s.

Her real name wasn’t Valora Noland, though. It was Valor Baum.

She was born to Franz and Abigail “Abby” Baum of Seattle, Washington, on December 8, 1941 — the day the United States formally entered WWII (following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor one day earlier).

Abby — recalling that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had spoken the somber words, “Death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey; hardship our garment; constancy and valor our only shield” — was inspired to name the baby girl Valor.

Valor Baum later added an “a” to the end of her first name. Later still, when she decided to become an actress, she began using the surname Noland.

Interestingly, the baby name Valora saw peak usage in the U.S. in 1963 — the year Valora Noland was profiled in a July issue TV Guide (which was being read by millions of Americans every week at that time).

What are your thoughts on the name Valora?

P.S. Churchill’s words came from a speech he gave to the House of Commons in October of 1940. (He also mentioned the effectiveness of the Anderson shelter in this speech.)

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of The War Wagon

Popular baby names in Virginia, 2023

Flag of Virginia
Flag of Virginia

Last year, the Commonwealth of Virginia — which is home to more than 8.7 million people — welcomed roughly 95,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Charlotte and Liam, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records.

Here are Virginia’s top 15 girl names and top 15 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Charlotte
  2. Emma
  3. Olivia*
  4. Sophia
  5. Amelia
  6. Evelyn
  7. Ava
  8. Isabella
  9. Elizabeth
  10. Mia
  11. Eleanor
  12. Harper
  13. Sofia
  14. Luna
  15. Abigail

*In the press release, Olivia was spelled “Oliva.” I’m assuming this was a typo.

Boy names

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. James
  4. Oliver
  5. William
  6. Lucas
  7. Henry
  8. Theodore
  9. Benjamin
  10. Levi
  11. Elijah
  12. Luke
  13. John
  14. Michael
  15. Gabriel

The state also revealed the top names among the state’ four largest ethnic groups: White, Black, Hispanic and Asian. (According to the most recent CDC data, from 2021, 54.3% of Virginia’s babies were born to non-Hispanic White mothers, 20.0% to Black mothers, 15.7% to Hispanic mothers, and 7.3% to Asian mothers.)

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s White babies:

Girl names, WhiteBoy names, White
1. Charlotte
2. Olivia
3. Emma
4. Amelia
5. Sophia
1. James
2. William
3. Oliver
4. Henry
5. Liam

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Black babies:

Girl names, BlackBoy names, Black
1. Ava
2. Naomi
3. Nova
4. Serenity
5. Autumn
1. Noah
2. Amir
3. Josiah
4. Elijah
5. Legend

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Hispanic babies:

Girl names, HispanicBoy names, Hispanic
1. Mia
2. Camila*
3. Genesis*
4. Isabella
5. Sofia
1. Liam
2. Mateo
3. Dylan
4. Thiago
5. Lucas

*In the press release, Camila and Genesis were spelled “Camilla” and “Genisis.” I’m assuming these were typos as well.

And, finally, these were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Asian babies:

Girl names, AsianBoy names, Asian
1. Olivia
2. Ava
3. Sophia
4. Sophie
5. Charlotte
1. Noah
2. Lucas
3. Muhammad
4. Ethan
5. Alexander

Here’s a link to Virginia’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Virginia (public domain)

Popular baby names on Nantucket, 2023

Flag of Massachusetts
Flag of Massachusetts

The Massachusetts island of Nantucket, which sits about 30 miles off the coast Cape Cod, is home to over 14,000 year-round residents (though the population “swells to around 80,000 or more” during July and August).

According to the Nantucket Town Clerk’s office, a total of 158 babies were born on the island in 2023. But we only have access to the names of 108 of these babies. Why?

[B]ecause of a Massachusetts law that separates birth certificates based on the parent’s marital status. If the parents were not married at the time of the birth or the father is not named on the record, the birth certificate is considered a restricted record and is not public.

So, out of the 108 known names, which were the most popular? For girls it was a tie between Leah and Sarah (given to two babies each), and for boys it was a tie between Grayson and Lucas (also given to two babies each).

The 100 other babies were given 100 single-use names:

Archibald, Abigail, Abraham, Alejandro, Alister, Alyssa, Alvaro, Amina, Andrew, Asher, Aurora, Bayard, Beckett, Benjaminas, Brenda, Callan, Carter, Catherine, Cameron, Charlotte, Christiaan, Colin, Cole, Cooper, Curren, Damien, Daniel, Debora, Eden, Edwin, Edward, Emilia, Emma, Enzo, Evelyn, Ezra, Fabian, Fae, Fiona, Gaby, Gabriella, Greydon, Griffyn, Harbor, Henry, Israel, Jacob, Jaden, James, Jantyah, Jefferson, Joshua, Julie, Justina, Kairi, Kiara, Lakelyn, La’Klia, Larkin, Latifa, Leon, Liv, Luna, Lydia, Mabel, Madison, Marianne, Marlow, Matheus, Maverick, Max, Mia, Mila, Milo, Miles, Mukhammadyusuf, Nia, Penelope, Quinn, River, Robin, Roman, Samir, Scarlett, Sergio, Shay, Shepard, Silverio, Skye, Stephanie, Sullivan, Theodore, Therdore, Tiller, Timothy, Wilder, William, Yasna, Yvonne, Zaniyah

Tiller caught my eye — it may have come from the English surname (which originally referred to someone who tilled the soil), but, given the location, I’m hoping it was inspired by the tiller of a boat. Maybe Tiller will become the boaters’ version of Taylor/Tyler? :)

Olivia and Liam — the top names in Boston last year — are nowhere to be found on Nantucket’s list, interestingly.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Massachusetts (public domain)

Popular baby names in Canada, 2022

Flag of Canada
Flag of Canada

The vast country of Canada is located in North America and shares the world’s longest international land border with its neighbor to the south, the United States.

Last year, Canada (excluding Yukon) welcomed 351,679 babies — 48.6% of which were girls, 51.4% of which were boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah.

Here are Canada’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 1,804 baby girls
  2. Emma, 1,550
  3. Charlotte, 1,475
  4. Amelia, 1,193
  5. Sophia, 1,079
  6. Chloe, 1,057
  7. Mia, 946
  8. Ava, 923
  9. Lily, 861
  10. Mila, 847
  11. Alice, 786
  12. Isla, 769
  13. Sofia, 763
  14. Evelyn, 751
  15. Abigail, 715
  16. Sophie, 712
  17. Nora, 708
  18. Charlie, 700
  19. Ellie, 680
  20. Zoe, 661
  21. Maya, 658
  22. Isabella, 656
  23. Ella, 634
  24. Clara, 618
  25. Elizabeth, 617
  26. Aria, 610
  27. Violet, 599
  28. Rose, 593
  29. Eva, 578
  30. Hannah, 577
  31. Emily, 575 (tie)
  32. Luna, 575 (tie)
  33. Ivy, 562
  34. Harper, 560
  35. Florence, 557
  36. Scarlett, 519
  37. Victoria, 514
  38. Hazel, 513
  39. Julia, 492
  40. Avery, 490
  41. Madison, 488
  42. Zoey, 474
  43. Eleanor, 467
  44. Grace, 448 (tie)
  45. Livia, 448 (tie)
  46. Emilia, 447
  47. Layla, 437
  48. Aurora, 435
  49. Lea, 434
  50. Willow, 430

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 2,198 baby boys
  2. Liam, 1,902
  3. William, 1,516
  4. Leo, 1,447
  5. Theodore, 1,423
  6. Oliver, 1,273
  7. Benjamin, 1,217
  8. Thomas, 1,205
  9. Lucas, 1,187
  10. Jack, 1,186
  11. James, 1,141
  12. Jacob, 1,105
  13. Nathan, 1,047
  14. Logan, 1,044
  15. Ethan, 1,040
  16. Adam, 977
  17. Theo, 932
  18. Jackson, 907
  19. Owen, 891
  20. Henry, 870
  21. Levi, 831
  22. Arthur, 807
  23. Felix, 806
  24. Gabriel, 777
  25. Samuel, 753
  26. Charles, 749
  27. Luca, 719
  28. Hudson, 663
  29. Nolan, 651
  30. Alexander, 647
  31. Daniel, 644
  32. Mason, 622
  33. Caleb, 613
  34. Louis, 604
  35. Jayden, 595 (tie)
  36. Muhammad, 595 (tie)
  37. Elijah, 593
  38. Aiden, 584
  39. Maverick, 581
  40. Isaac, 579
  41. Ryan, 538
  42. Wyatt, 521
  43. Carter, 520
  44. Luke, 516
  45. Elliot, 499 (tie)
  46. Lincoln, 499 (tie)
  47. Eli, 496
  48. Grayson, 495
  49. Edouard, 492
  50. Mateo, 489

The names in Canada’s top 100 that rose the fastest from 2021 to 2022 were:

  • Wren, Blake, Eloise, Freya, Athena, and Gabriella (girl names)
  • Leon, Ali, Cooper, Rowan, Charlie, Luke, and Sebastian (boy names)

And here’s a selection of names from the other end of the spectrum — names that were given to just 5 babies each in Canada last year:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Aberdeen, Becca, Charis, Dorcas, Everlyn, Farida, Guntas, Hadeel, Iremide, Jolianne, Khawla, Lumina, Mavi, Nichelle, Opale, Perrie, Rhya, Sylia, Tavisha, Uma, Verna, Wilder, Yoadan, ZaynahAlborz, Brandt, Cornelius, Dryden, Espen, Fabrice, Gurjot, Hades, Indy, Jesper, Kuzey, Lorne, Mederic, Nima, Onkar, Poseidon, Rorik, Solal, Theeran, Udayvir, Viansh, Wesson, Yvan, Zeno

The names used even less frequently — between one and four times — “accounted for 86% of all baby names in 2022.”

Finally, here are Canada’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators – Statistics Canada, Canada’s most popular baby names in 2022 – Statistics Canada, Births, 2022 – Statistics Canada, Canada – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Canada (public domain)