Abby

Where Abby comes from

The dictionaries list Abby as a given name — a diminutive of the female given name Abigail, from Hebrew, also used as a formal given name — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #738 among girls — 6 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1980
    Abby Wambach born
    American soccer player
  3. 2001
    Peak, #163
    1,986 babies named Abby — more than any year before or since.
  4. 2008
    Abby Ryder Fortson born
    American actress
  5. 2013
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #352.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the female given name Abigail, from Hebrew, also used as a formal given name.
  • A diminutive of the male given name Albert, from the Germanic languages.
Namesakes
  • Abby Wambach · American soccer player, born 1980
  • Abby Ryder Fortson · American actress, born 2008
  • Abby Elliott · American actress, born 1987
  • Abby Dahlkemper · American soccer player, born 1993
  • Abby Dalton · American actress, 1932–2020

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.