Meaning & Origin
A female given name, a diminutive of Abigail.
Gail is a girl's and boy's baby name of Hebrew origin, a diminutive of Abigail — from the Hebrew Avigayil, meaning "father's joy" or "my father is joyful." Gail emerged as a standalone given name in the English-speaking world in the early 20th century.
Gail ranked in the U.S. top 30 girls' names in the late 1940s and 1950s. It has a breezy, no-nonsense quality — one syllable of clear-eyed practicality. TV journalist Gayle King (with the alternate spelling) has kept the name in the public eye as one of American media's most respected voices.