Agnes (name)

Infobox Given Name Revised
name = Agnes


imagesize=200px
caption=The name Agnes was widely used due to Saint Agnes of Rome.
pronunciation=
gender = Female
meaning = "pure, holy"
region =
origin = Greek
related names =
footnotes =

Agnes is a female given name, which derives from the Greek word "hagnē", meaning "pure" or "holy". The Latinized form of the Greek name is "Hagnes", the feminine form of "Hagnos", meaning "chaste" or "sacred". The name passed to Italian as Agnese, to (Portuguese) as Inês, and to Spanish, as Inés.

It was the name of a popular Christian saint, Saint Agnes of Rome, a fact which encouraged the wide use of the name. Agnes was the third most popular name for women in the English speaking world for more than 400 years. [Rosenkrantz, Linda, and Satran, Pamela Redmond (2007). "Baby Name Bible". St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-35220-2] Its medieval pronunciation was "Annis," and its usage and many of its forms coincided with the equally popular English name Anne, a name commonly thought to be related to Agnes or even versions of the same name. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/books/chapters/first-chapter-shakespeares-wife.html "Shakespeare's Wife." New York Times. 4-27-2008.] ] It remained a widely used name throughout the 1960s in the United States. It was last ranked among the top 1,000 names for American girls during that decade. The peak of its popularity was between 1900 and 1920, when it was among the top 50 names for American girls. The Swedish version of the name was the 16th most popular name for girls born in Sweden in 2007, having risen as high as third place in Sweden in 2006. It was also ranked among the top 100 names for girls in Hungary in 2005. [ [http://www.behindthename.com/top/search.php?terms=agnes Behind the Name] ]

Name variants

*Aggie (English)
*Ági (Hungarian)
*Ãgne (Lithuanian)
*Ágnes (Hungarian)
*Agnès (French)
*Agnese (Italian), (Latvian)
*Agnessa (Russian)
*Agneta (Swedish)
*Agnete (Danish)
*Agnetha (Scandinavian)
*Agnethe (Danish)
*Agnieszka (Polish)
*Aignéis (Irish)
*Annice (English)
*Annis (English)
*Aune (Finnish)
*Iines (Finnish)
*Inés (Spanish)
*Inês (Portuguese)
*Ines (Italian)
*Inez (Spanish)
*Agnieszka (Polish)
*Jagienka (Polish)
*Jagna (Polish)
*Jagusia (Polish)
*Nesta (Welsh)
*Neža (Slovenian)
*Oanez (Breton)
*Senga (Scottish)

People named Agnes

* Saint Agnes
* St. Agnes of Bohemia
* Agnes of Gandersheim
* Agnes de Poitou, Regent of the Holy Roman Empire
* Agnes of Wittelsbach
* Agnes Le Thi Thanh, one of the Vietnamese Martyrs

People with the given name Agnes

* Agnes Ayres, silent film star
* Agnes Baden-Powell, establisher of the Girl Guides movement
* Agnes Baltsa, Greek mezzo-soprano
* Agnes Bernauer
* Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Mother Teresa
* Agnes Bruckner, an American actress
* Agnes Carlsson, a Swedish pop-star.
* Agnes Chan
* Agnes Dunbar, 4th Countess of Moray
* Agnes Inglis
* Agnes Macdonald, wife of the Canadian Prime Minister
* Agnes Macphail, early Canadian politician
* Agnes Moorehead
* Agnes Nestor
* Agnes Pihlava, Polish musician
* Ágnes Primász, Hungarian water polo player
* Agnès Varda, movie director
* Agnes von Kurowsky, an American nurse during WW1 who also fell in love with Ernest Hemingway
* Juana Inés de la Cruz (Iohanna Agnes of the Cross), scholar, poet, nun and a writer.

Notes

ee also