How Tom Selleck Gave Abigail Hawk's 'Blue Bloods' Character A New Name

For 14 seasons, Abigail Hawk brought the character of Abigail Baker to life on 'Blue Bloods,' but here's something you might not know: her character didn't always have that name. Back in the early days of the show, it was none other than Tom Selleck who decided the character needed a bit of a rebrand. Let's dive into how this all went down.

From Melissa to Abigail: The Name Change You Didn't See Coming

In the very first season of Blue Bloods, Tom Selleck's character, Frank Reagan, referred to Abigail's character as Melissa. If you check out the credits for the first couple of episodes on IMDb, you'll see that she's listed as Detective Melissa. By the end of season one, though, her name had evolved into Detective Melissa Baker. But here's the twist: by season two, she's officially Detective Abigail Baker, and that's the name that stuck around for the rest of the series.

It's a pretty cool story when you think about it. Here's a character who started off as Melissa and ended up as Abigail, all thanks to Tom's vision for the show. But why the change? Let's find out.

Read also:

Goldie Hawns Journey From Rising Star To Hollywood Icon

Behind the Scenes: Why Tom Selleck Changed the Character's Name

Abigail Hawk opened up about this whole process in an interview with Starry Mag back in January 2021. She explained that when she first read the script for her character, it was pretty bare bones. "Originally, she did not have a last name," she recalled. "She didn't have an age, a gender, a race—nothing. She was just kind of a placeholder. She was either Detective Mel or Melissa, but no first name, definitely not my first name."

Abigail went on to explain how Tom played a big role in shaping her character. "I got the role, and about two to three episodes in, Tom decided to change the name to Abigail because he thought Melissa was too ordinary," she said. "And hey, I'll take that as a compliment. Then he worked with the legal team to clear the last name Baker. He really wanted me to have a full identity on the show, so they gave me one, and it was all because of him."

Abigail has never shied away from talking about this moment in her career. In a more recent interview with Hello! Magazine in October 2024, she shared even more details about the process.

"Once Tom had his way and we started building a much more personal version of the police commissioner, he sat down with the showrunners, Mitch and Robin Burgess," she explained. "He said, 'We're going to keep Abigail here as this special assistant and primary aid to the Commissioner. But I don't like Melissa—it's just such an ordinary name. We can do better than that.'"

Abigail said that having the character share her first name was a real honor. "Then legal cleared Baker quickly as a last name, and the more Tom sat with Melissa, he was like, 'I don't want to call you anything other than Abigail—I really think it suits this character,'" she recalled. "It was the first time in my life that I had looked at my name in a really positive way. Growing up, I hated it. Now all of a sudden, there's an intelligent woman behind it, there's capability. Then Abigail Baker was born by the fifth or sixth episode of season one."

Unfortunately, Blue Bloods aired its final episode in December 2024. But Abigail remains grateful for her time on the show. "So much happened," she said during a post-finale appearance on Spectrum News. "I literally became the woman that I am. It still feels a little surreal, but at this point, I'm just leaning into the gratitude aspect of it. It happened. It was amazing."

Read also:

Exroyal Gardener Shares Heartwarming Tales About King Charles And Queen Camilla

In the same televised interview, she mentioned how Tom had been advocating for the name change from day one. "Not that there's anything wrong with the name Melissa," she joked. "I've gotten a lot of flack over this, but he just really liked the name Abigail, so thanks, Mom and Dad."