Abigail

Some names take a bit of decoding. Abigail isn't one of them, dig into it and you find, quite simply, joy.

It's an old one, Hebrew at heart, and it means "my father is joy." As sentiments to hand a newborn go, that is hard to top: not a warrior, not a jewel, just uncomplicated delight at the fact of her. The name reached English by way of French, which lends it a certain unhurried elegance, but the warmth underneath has never gone anywhere.

It is also wonderfully easy to live with. Abigail comes ready-fitted with escape hatches: the breezy Abby for the school run and the scraped knees, or the vintage, slightly grander Gail if you fancy something shorter and sharper. Full name for the graduation certificate, nickname for everything before it, the best of both, no compromise required.

Popularity-wise, Abigail sits in a rather enviable spot: well loved, but not everywhere all at once. It is number 12 in the United States and number 17 in Argentina, number 25 in Canada and number 70 in Mexico City, with gentler showings at 67 in Australia and 76 in New Zealand, and a quieter presence still at 154 in England & Wales. In other words: familiar enough that nobody will misspell it, rare enough that she won't be one of four in the class. That is a sweet spot a great many names would envy.

The name keeps good company, too. There is Abigail Adams, one of the earliest and sharpest First Ladies, whose letters still get quoted centuries on, and the actress Abigail Breslin, who grew up on screen with real poise. Even fiction has a soft spot for it, think of the quick-witted Abby Sciuto, forever cheerfully solving things on NCIS. Stateswoman, performer, lab-coated scene-stealer: not a bad range for one name to cover.

On a shortlist, Abigail plays nicely with the gently classic and the faintly continental alike. Line it up beside Gabriel, Raphaël, Noémie or Chloé and you have a sibling set that sounds like it summers somewhere with excellent bread and a lake. It is timeless without being stuffy, pretty without trying too hard, and it will read just as well on a nursery door as on a business card three decades from now.

So is Abigail the one? That is the lovely, maddening question at the centre of all this. A name can mean something as pure as joy, shorten two charming ways, sit comfortably on any shortlist and still leave you awake at 2am turning it over. Abigail makes a sunny, generous case for itself, but the final verdict, as always, waits on a small person who hasn't turned up yet.