Declining since 2017, #3,949 for boys today.
Popularity of Abbott since 1880
Babies named Abbott per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 2016, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Abbott's real moment was 1888.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 11 |
| 1890s | 0 |
| 1900s | 5 |
| 1910s | 109 |
| 1920s | 125 |
| 1930s | 74 |
| 1940s | 63 |
| 1950s | 57 |
| 1960s | 24 |
| 1970s | 6 |
| 1980s | 10 |
| 1990s | 29 |
| 2000s | 110 |
| 2010s | 472 |
| 2020s | 201 |
Meaning & origin
Abbott is a classic English surname turned given name, with roots in medieval ecclesiastical titles. Originally an occupational name for someone who worked for an abbot, it carries a dignified, scholarly air. The name first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1880 and reached its peak popularity in 1888, ranking among the top 1,000 names at that time. Since 2017, its usage has been declining, and in 2025 it ranked 3,949, with an incidence of about 1 in 63,262. Despite its historical usage, Abbott has not seen a strong revival and remains a rare choice. Its concise, strong sound aligns with other revived surnames like Bennett and Beckett, though it lacks the top-state popularity of those names.
Abbott is an English surname derived from the Middle English 'abbod' or 'abbot', meaning 'abbot', the head of a monastery. It originally denoted someone who worked for or was a servant of an abbot, or sometimes the abbot himself. As a given name, it saw modest use in the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the United States.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Abb, Ab
Sibling names for Abbott
Names that share Abbott's style, for a brother or sister.
