Girl · Hebrew, through English
Gail
Say it: GAYL
Meaning
A short form of Abigail, from Hebrew Avigayil, usually read as 'my father is joy'.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
Popular in the US from the 1930s to the 1950s, with Gale also used for boys.
Its wave through time
A fashion of the 1950s
In the United States
- 210,602 babies given this name since 1881
- At its height in 1951, about 1 in 182 girls
- 19 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Gayle, Gale
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.