Abbie / Abbey / Abby???

[samjammy]

If baby is a girl, Abbie is high up on our favourites - what is the most obvious spelling though?

It will just be Abbie, not Abigail - so I think one of these three is it, and that Abbie seems to be the most obvious spelling, I think that could just be because I used to know a little girl who had it spelt that way though!

I know Abbey is Abbey Clancy and often street names / Westminster so that could be the assumed one, or is it just assumed for a street / big church?!

I don't really care which we use, but DH and I have no idea which most people would assume it is, and I don't want her to be saddled with constantly correcting spelling, which is sort of putting me off altogether... however we are really struggling for a girls name!

[scatterthenuns]

I'd go for Abby.

I hate ie endings - they are too cutesy for my taste.
Abbey is the word for buildings.

[samjammy]

I'd never thought of 'ie' endings as cutesy... interesting take and duly noted! It just seems the most sensible to me, but am solely basing that on my one experience of an Abbie who wasn't an Abigail!

[JoeMommuh]

Abbie. Not abbey definitely, that's a church to my mind.

[SwedishEdith]

I'd go for Abi.

[SillyBub]

My sister is an Abbi, just to confuse matters

[DragonsCanHop]

I'd also go for Abi

[samjammy]

thanks - would Abi not look like it's short for Abigail? It seems so short (to state the obvious).

Will scrap Abbey then - also not keen on the Clancy connection

SillyBub - yep Abbi has thrown me further! It looks nice but I'm pretty sure wouldn't be the obvious spelling. Do people get it wrong with your sister a lot?

[PeppasNanna]

I have an Abbie.
Very frequently others spell it as Abby.

I love that name!

[SwedishEdith]

Won't most people assume an Abi (of whatever spelling) is an Abigail anyway?

[samjammy]

PeppasNanna Ooh good to meet a real-life Abbie user! So would you say most seem to assume it's Abby over Abbie? Or is it about 50/50? Do you just get used to spelling it out or does it pee you off?

SwedishEdith I'm hoping not, that though some people will assume, it's enough of a name in its own right iyswim, rather than say, Soph, which everyone would assume is a nn. I feel like Abi is the obvious shortening for Abigail but obviously it's all very subjective and down to opinion, which is why I can't decide the best spelling to use!

[Daphnedolittle]

I've looked on darkgreener where it tells you how many babies were named each name each year.
Last year 196 babies were named Abbie, making it a far more popular spelling than the others. The next most popular is Abby, with 59 babies, Abi had 31 babies and Abbi had 11. I would therefore choose Abbie such a name nerd

Its popular enough to be a name in it's own right, it's lovely.

[HopefulAnxiety]

I would honestly always assume that any Abbie/Abi/Abbey/Abby variant is short for Abigail. Sorry. Why not Abigail?

[paperdreams94]

I would go for Abbie, definitely not Abbey.

Abbie is a lovely name in its own right.

[ktmummy1]

Abbie definitely

[kittylh]

I would choose Abby or Abbie.

I'm a Katie and I very often get the y or ie question, so to be honest, I think either spelling could be questioned regularly. Some people just assume, and I wouldn't say that one spelling wins more over the other - pretty equal actually.

[smartyclogs]

How about Amy?

Along the same sort of lines as Abbie/Abbi/Abby... 2 syllables, starts with an A, finishes with an 'ie' sound. Only it's not a shortened version of a name and not too much confusion over spelling.
It has a lovely meaning too, comes from the latin 'amata' , beloved or loved one.

[elor11]

Abbie is the most popular spelling in the charts. I think it seems a name in its own right too. Not obviously short for Abigail.

[MrsCaecilius]

Definitely not Abbey, that's a building.

Personally I prefer a full name with a nn, so I'd go for Abigail / Abi or Abbie. Most people will assume her name is a nn and it gives her far less choice later in life.

[DurhamDurham]

I have an Abbie, she does get all sorts of weird and wonderful nicknames derived from it but as she's 18 she probably thought of most of them herself.

I did want to name her Abigail but husband wasn't keen so Abbie was the compromise.

I dislike the spelling Abbey as that reminds me of a big huge building, Abbey is ok but for me Abbie is the best!

[AliciaMayEmory]

I prefer Abbie, too. Abbey is the building, as pp have said. I love the name, though!

[samjammy]

Thanks so much everyone. I also feel the Abbie spelling looks the most complete! Will definitely steer clear of Abbey though.

I'm afraid I just don't really like Abigail, and want to love all of her name, not just the shortened version, so it's a no-go for me.

I've looked on darkgreener where it tells you how many babies were named each name each year.

^ This is amazing - I had no idea about this site - thank you! I love name geekiness too I may lose several hours on there in the next few months...

hopefulanxiety weirdly Amy is on our list too! I really like it, but would spell it Aimee as I prefer names spelt how they sound and think the French way is prettier here (I have a French name too which may be influencing). I must sound like such a PITA with the Abbie thing as well, I wasn't fussy like this last time I swear!