Abbey

Where Abbey comes from

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

  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1917
    First appearance
    #3,344 among girls, 8 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1930
    Abbey Lincoln born
    American singer
  3. 1942
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  4. 1987
    Abbey Lee born
    Australian model
  5. 1999
    Peak, #392
    710 babies named Abbey — more than any year before or since.
  6. 2007
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #822.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the female given name Abigail, from Hebrew.
  • A diminutive of the male given name Albert, from the Germanic languages.
  • A place name:
  • A hamlet in Dunkeswell parish, East Devon district, Devon, England, probably named for the local abbey (OS grid ref ST1410).
  • A small village south-east of Tuam, County Galway, Ireland (Irish grid ref M 5043).
  • A village west of Portumna, County Galway (Irish grid ref M 7305).
  • A village in the Rural Municipality of Miry Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada, named after a farm in Ireland.
  • A suburb of Busselton, Western Australia, named after landholder D. Abbey.
Namesakes
  • Abbey Lincoln · American singer, 1930–2010
  • Abbey Lee · Australian model, born 1987
  • Abbey Weitzeil · American swimmer, born 1996
  • Abbey Clancy · British lingerie and catwalk model, television presenter, born 1986
  • Abbey Brooks · pornographic performer, born 1983

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.