Agnes

Greek
"pure, virginal"

Agnes Origin and Meaning

The name Agnes is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pure, virginal".

Agnes is the Latin variation of the name Hagne, which itself derived from the Greek word hagnos, meaning "chaste." In medieval times, St. Agnes was a very popular saint, leading to its popularity as a girl's name. Agnes Grey is the title of one of the two novels written by Anne Brontë.

Agnes, though it was the third most common English girls' name for four hundred years, has long been stuck in the attic. But now it looks like Agnes was so far out it's just about ready to come back in. It did look cute on a little girl in Despicable Me, and nickname Aggie has lots of retro appeal.

Agnes has also been making inroads in the celebrisphere—first actress Elisabeth Shue chose Agnes for her third child, and more recently Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany named their daughter Agnes Lark.

The French pronunciation—ahn-YEZ—could make it more attractive, but few Americans would comply. Other interesting variations: the Welsh Nesta, the Latin/Scandinavian Agneta, the Spanish Inez/Ines/Ynez, and the Scottish Senga—which happens to be Agnes spelled backwards.

# 986 in the US

Agnes Rank in US Top 1000

# 186 on Nameberry

Agnes Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Agnes Popularity

Famous People Named Agnes

  • Saint Agnes of Rome
    3rd century virgin,martyr
  • Saint Agnes of Assisi
    sister of Clare of Assisi, abbess of the Order of Poor Ladies
  • (Marie) Agnes Henriette
    Princess of Hohenlohe,Langenburg; Hereditary Princess of Löwenstein,Wertheim,Rosenberg
  • (Frederica Amalia) Agnes
    Princess of Anhalt,Dessau; Duchess consort of Saxe,Altenburg
  • Agnes Sorel
    mistress of King Charles VII of France
  • Agnes George de Mille
    American dancer and choreographer
  • Agnes Ayres (born Agnes Eyre Henkel)
    American silent film actress
  • Agnes Bruckner
    American actress
  • Agnes Robertson Moorehead
    American actress
  • Agnes (Emilia Carlsson)
    Swedish pop singer
  • Agnes Caroline Thaarup Obel
    Danish singer,songwriter
  • Agnes Varis
    American businesswoman and philanthropist
  • Agnes Nixon
    American soap opera writer and producer
  • Agnes Catharina Kant
    Dutch politician
  • Agnes Schierhuber
    Austrian politician
  • Agnes Varda
    French New Wave film director
  • Agnes Martin
    20th century American Abstract artist
  • Agnes Mary Nolan Cohan
    American dancer
  • Agnes Randolph
    Countess of Dunbar and March, was better known as Black Agnes, a Scottish heroine who famously withstood a siege of her castle by the English , "Cam I early, cam I late, I found Agnes at the gate"
  • Agnes Monica
    Indonesian singer and actress
  • Agnes Yorke (b. 2004)
    daughter of singer Thom Yorke of Radiohead
  • Agnes Charles (b. 2006)
    daughter of actress Elisabeth Shue
  • Agnes Lark Bettany (b. 2011)
    daughter of actors Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany
  • Agnes Bro Asbæk (b. 2012)
    daughter of actor Pilou Asbæk and Anna Bro

Agnes in Pop Culture

  • "Agnes Grey
    " novel by Anne Bronte and its main character
  • Agnes Rackam
    delusional wife of William Rackam in Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
  • "Agnes
    " novel by Peter Stamm and its main character
  • "Agnes
    " comic strip by Tony Cochran and its main character
  • Agnes
    birth name of Esmeralda in Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre,Dame"
  • Agnes Fleming
    mother of the title character in Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist"
  • Agnes Gru
    little girl in movie "Despicable Me"
  • Agnes de Villeroy
    character in G. A. Henty's, At Agincourt
  • Agnes Andrews
    character in the Gossip Girl series
  • Agnes
    character in movie "The Poker House"
  • Agnes Holland
    character on TV's "Upstairs Downstairs"
  • Agnes Pitt
    character in the American Girl Samantha series, twin sister of Agatha Pitt
  • Agnes Adler
    character in movie "It's Complicated"
  • Agnes Wickfield
    character in Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield"
  • Agnes Gooch
    homely character in "Mame"
  • Agnes Skinner
    Principal Skinner's mother from "The Simpsons"
  • Agnes de Burg
    character in G. A. Henty's, Wulf the Saxon
  • Agnes Harmon
    Arthur's deceased wife on TV's "Maude"
  • Agnes
    nerdy character on TV's "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
  • Agnes
    witch on TV's "The Originals"
  • Agnes Prout
    character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
  • Agnes Crumplebottom
    character in "The Sims" (1 , 3) video/computer games
  • Agnès Oblige
    character in the Square Enix game series "Bravely Default"
  • Agnes Towler
    character on TV's Mr. Selfridge
  • Agnes
    Kristofferson's love interest in the movie 'Fantastic Mr Fox'
  • "Agnes"
    song by Glass Animals
  • Agnes Rofa
    character in TV show "The Umbrella Academy"
  • Agnes Jurati
    character in the upcoming TV series "Star Trek: Picard"
  • Agnes Montague
    character in the podcast 'The Magnus Archives'
  • Agnes Kitsworth
    character in TV's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."