Agnes (name)
Agnes | |
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The name Agnes was widely used due to Saint Agnes of Rome. | |
Gender | Female |
Language(s) | Greek |
Origin | |
Meaning | "pure, holy" |
Agnes is a female given name, which derives from the Greek name Ἁγνὴ hagnē, meaning "pure" or "holy". 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.[1] Its medieval pronunciation was "Annis," and its usage and many of its forms coincided with the equally popular name Anna, related in medieval and Elizabethan times to 'Agnes', though Anne/Ann/Anna are derived from the Hebrew Hannah ('God favored me') rather than the Greek.[2] 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. Agnes was the 16th most popular name for girls born in Poland in 2007, having risen as high as third place in Sweden and Poland in 2006. It was also ranked among the top 100 names for girls in Hungary in 2005.[3] Neža, a Slovene short form, was ranked among the top 10 names for girls born in Slovenia in 2008. French forms Inès and Ines were both ranked among the top 10 names for girls born in Brussels, Belgium in 2008.
Name variants
- Agnė (Lithuanian)
- Ágnes (Hungarian)
- Agneeta (Finnish)
- Agnes (English, Estonian, German, Ghanaian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish)
- Ágnes, Anežka (Czech)
- Agnès (French, Catalan)
- Agnés (Valencian)
- Агнеса (Agnesa) (Macedonian)
- Agnese (Italian, Latvian)
- Agnessa (Russian)
- Agneta (Catalan, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish)
- Agnete (Danish, Norwegian)
- Agnetha (Scandinavian)
- Agnethe (Danish, Norwegian)
- Agneza (Croatian)
- Αγνή (Agni) (Greek)
- Agnieszka (Polish)
- Агнија (Agnija) (Macedonian)
- Agniya (Russian)
- Aignéis (Irish)
- Akanisi (Fijian)
- Akneeta (Finnish)
- Akneetta (Finnish)
- Aknes (Finnish)
- Aknietta (Finnish)
- Anežka (Czech), (Slovak)
- Anissa (English)
- Anjes (Dutch)
- Anjezë (Albanian)
- Annest (Welsh)
- Annice (English)
- Annis (English)
- Aune (Finnish)
- Iines (Finnish)
- إيناس (Inās) (Arabic)
- Ines (French), (German), (Italian)
- Inès (French)
- Inés (Spanish)
- Inês (Portuguese)
- Inessa (Инесса) (Russian and Azerbaijani)
- Inez (English)
- Jagienka (Polish)
- Jagna (Polish)
- Agnieszka (Polish)
- Janja (Croatian and Slovenian)
- Nesta (or Nest) (Welsh)
- Neža (Slovenian)
- Nieske (Dutch)
- Oanez (Breton)
- Senga (Scottish)
People named Agnes
Saints
- Agnes of Assisi (1197/98-1253), one of the first abbesses of the Order of Poor Ladies
- Agnes of Bohemia (1211-1282), Bohemian princess (also listed in next section)
- Agnes of Montepulciano (1263-1317), Dominican prioress
- Agnes of Rome (c. 291–c. 304), virgin martyr
Noblewomen
- Agnes I, Abbess of Quedlinburg (c. 1090-1125), Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg
- Agnes of Aquitaine (disambiguation)
- Agnes of Antioch, (1154–c. 1184), Queen consort of Hungary
- Agnes of Austria (disambiguation)
- Agnes of Babenberg (c. 1108/13–1163), High Duchess of Poland and Duchess of Silesia
- Agnes of Bohemia (1211-1282), Bohemian princess and saint (see above)
- Agnes of Brandenburg (c. 1257–1304), Queen consort and regent of Denmark
- Agnes of Burgundy, Duchess of Aquitaine (died 1068)
- Agnes of Burgundy, Duchess of Bourbon (1407-1476)
- Agnes of Courtenay (c. 1136–c. 1184), Queen consort of Jerusalem
- Agnes of France, Byzantine Empress (1171–after 1207)
- Agnes of France, Duchess of Burgundy (c. 1260–1327)
- Agnes of Germany (1072-1143), Duchess consort of Swabia by her first marriage, Margravine consort of Austria by her second
- Agnes of Habsburg (c. 1257–1322), Duchess of Saxony
- Princess Agnes of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1804-1833)
- Agnes of Hohenstaufen (1176–1204), Countess Palatine of the Rhine
- Agnes of Merania (died 1201), Queen of France
- Agnes of the Palatinate (1201–1267), Duchess of Bavaria
- Agnes of Poitou (1025-1077), Holy Roman Empress and regent
- Agnes of Rochlitz (died 1195), Duchess of Merania and Countess of Andechs
- Mihrişah Valide Sultan or Sultana Mehr-î-Shah (ca. 1745–1805), spouse of Ottoman Sultan Mustafa III, mother of Caliph Sultan Selim III, believed to have the given name Agnès
- Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk (c. 1477–1545)
- Agnes Macdonald, 1st Baroness Macdonald of Earnscliffe (1836-1920), second wife of Sir John A. Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada
- Agnes Randolph (c. 1312–1369), Countess of Dunbar and March
Others
- Agnès Arnauld (1593–1672), abbess of Port-Royal and a major figure in French Jansenism
- Agnes Ayres, American silent film star
- Agnes Baden-Powell, establisher of the Girl Guides movement
- Agnes Baltsa, Greek mezzo-soprano
- Agnes Bernauer, morganatic wife of Albert III, Duke of Bavaria
- Anjezë Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa, Albanian Catholic religious sister and missionary
- Agnes Bruckner, American actress
- Agnes Busby (1800-1889), New Zealand pioneer
- Agnes Carlsson, Swedish pop star better known by her mononym Agnes
- Agnes Chan, Hong Kong-based singer
- Agnès Delahaie (born 1920), a French film producer
- Agnes de Mille, American dancer and choreographer
- Agnès Godard, César Award-winning French cinematographer
- Agnès Gosselin (born 1967), a former French figure skater
- Ágnes Heller, Hungarian philosopher
- Ágnes Herczegh, Hungarian discus thrower
- Agnès Humbert (1894–1963), art historian, ethnographer and member of the French Resistance during World War II
- Agnes Inglis, American anarchist
- Agnès Jaoui (born 1964), French screenwriter, film director, actress and singer
- Agnes Jongerius (born 1960), Dutch politician
- Agnes von Konow, Finnish animal rights advocate
- Agnes von Krusenstjerna, Swedish writer
- Agnes Macphail, first female senator in Canada
- Agnès Maltais (born 1956), Quebec politician
- Agnes Bernice Martin (1912-2004), Canadian-American abstract painter
- Agnès Mellon (born 1958), French soprano
- Agnès Merlet (born 1959), French film director
- Agnes Moorehead, American actress
- Agnès Mukabaranga, Rwandan politician
- Ágnes Mutina, Hungarian swimmer
- Agnes Nestor, American suffragette
- Agnes Nicholls, 20th century English soprano
- Agnes Obel, Danish indie folk singer-songwriter and pianist
- Agnes Pihlava, Polish musician
- Ágnes Primász, Hungarian water polo player
- Agnes Smedley, an American journalist and writer
- Agnès Sorel (1421–1450), a favourite mistress of King Charles VII of France
- Ágnes Szatmári, Romanian tennis player
- Ágnes Szávay, Hungarian tennis player
- Agnès Souret, early 20th Century French-Basque actress
- Agnes Le Thi Thanh, one of the Vietnamese Martyrs
- Agnès b. (born Agnès Andrée Marguerite Troublé in 1941), French fashion designer
- Agnès Varda (born 1928), French movie director
- Agnes von Kurowsky, American nurse during World War I who fell in love with Ernest Hemingway
See also
- All pages beginning with "Agnes"
- Juana Inés de la Cruz (Iohanna Agnes of the Cross), scholar, poet, nun and a writer
- Agnés Oblige, a main character from the role-playing game Bravely Default
References
- ↑ Rosenkrantz, Linda, and Satran, Pamela Redmond (2007). Baby Name Bible. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-35220-2
- ↑ "Shakespeare's Wife." New York Times. 4-27-2008.
- ↑ Behind the Name