Gail is a masculine and feminine given name. As a feminine name, it can be a short form of the name Abigail.
Gail has been used as a masculine and feminine name, and until the 1930s, was equally common on both sexes. Between the 1930s and 1960s, its use as a feminine name increased, as a consequence marginalizing masculine usage by about 1960.
Alternate spellings include Gaile, Gale, and Gayle.
Notable people with the given name include:
People Gail Beggs, Canadian government minister Gail Boggs (born 1951), American actress Gail Borden (1801–1874), American inventor Gail Borden (figure skater) (1907–1991), American figure skater Gail Brodsky (born 1991), American tennis player Gail Bruce (1923–1998), American football player Gail Collins (born 1945), American journalist Gail Cronauer (born 1948), American actress Gail Davies, (born 1948), American country singer/songwriter Gail Devers (born 1966), American athlete Gail Ann Dorsey (born 1962), American musician Gail Emms (born 1977), British badminton player Gail Finney (1959–2022), American businesswoman and politician Gail Fisher (1935–2000), American actress Gail Goodrich (born 1943), American basketball player Gail Grandchamp (born 1955), American boxer Gail Halvorsen (1920–2022), American air force pilot Gail Jonson (born 1965), New Zealand swimmer Gail Kim (born 1976), Canadian wrestler Gail Carson Levine (born 1947), American writer Gail Nkoane Mabalane (born 1984), South African actress and model Gail Miller (water polo) (born 1976), Australian water polo player Gail Minault (born 1939), American historian Gail Novinger (1929–2019), American politician from Missouri Gail O'Grady (born 1963), American actress Gail Phillips (1944–2021), American politician Gail Porter (born 1971), British television presenter Gail Ryan (born 1939), American hairstylist Gail Sanborn, American politician Gail Shapiro (1947–2006), American pediatric allergist Gail Sheehy (1936–2020), American writer Gail Simmons (born 1976), Canadian food critic Gail Simone (born 1974), American comics writer Gail Skare (born 1939), American politician Gail Tipa (born 1959), New Zealand resource management planner
Fictional characters Gail Leery, character in the television series Dawson's Creek Gail Platt, character in the television series Coronation Street Gail Wynand, character in the 1943 novel The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
See also Gaël (given name) Gale (given name) Gayle (given name)
References