Agnes

See also: Agnès and Ágnes

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἁγνή (Hagnḗ), coming from Ancient Greek ἁγνός (hagnós, “pure, chaste”), Ancient Greek ἁγνεία (hagneía, “purity, chastity”). Doublet of Inez.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæɡ.nɪs/

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Agnes

1. A female given name from Ancient Greek.
   • 1876, Annie Howells Fréchette, “Reuben Dale”, in The Galaxy, W.C. and F.P.Church, 1876, page 394:

     Why do you call Mrs. Stone Aggie? Agnes is such a beautiful name, it is a shame to nick it in that way." Then, quickly regretting his impatience, he added, "You would not have been jealous, would you, Jenny?

   • 1977, Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds, Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 3,5:

     Right then and there in her mind she had christened it Agnes, the only name she knew elegant enough for such a peerless creature. - - - She held the doll so her brothers could see. "Look, isn't she beautiful? Her name is Agnes.[...]Agnes? Agnes?" Jack gagged realistically. "What a soppy name! Why don't you call her Margaret or Betty?

   • 1995, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America, Riverhead Books, →ISBN, page 14:

     I found myself wanting to explain it to her, this middle-aged woman with the kind of haircut you call a hairdo, which needed to be set in rollers every night, who had a name like Agnes or Harriet, a name that even predated my mother's generation.

Usage notes

• Name of one of the four great virgin martyrs, by folk etymology associated with Latin agnus (“lamb”). Popular in the Middle Ages and again at the turn of the 20th century.
• In Ireland Agnes has been used as an Anglicization of Úna.

Derived terms

• Burton Agnes
• Papworth St Agnes
• St Agnes

Related terms

• Aggie
• Inez
• Nancy

Translations

female given name

• Aragonese: Ainés f
• Azerbaijani: Aqnes
• Basque: Añes
• Catalan: Agnès (ca)
• Czech: Anežka (cs) f
• Danish: Agnes
• Dutch: Agnes (nl)
• Estonian: Agnes
• Faroese: Agnas
• Finnish: Aune (fi)
• Franco-Provençal: Nyèthe, Nyéchèta
• French: Agnès (fr)
• Galician: Inés (gl) f
• German: Agnes (de)
• Greek: Αγνή (el) (Agní) (agní)
• Hawaiian: ʻAkeneki
• Hungarian: Ágnes (hu)
• Irish: Aignéas f
• Italian: Agnese (it)
• Latvian: Agnese f
• Norwegian: Agnes (no)
• Occitan: Anha f
• Polish: Agnieszka (pl), Jagna (pl) f
• Portuguese: Inês (pt) f
• Romanian: Agnes n
• Russian: Агне́сса (ru) f (Agnéssa)
• Scottish Gaelic: Aigneas f
• Skolt Sami: Aagni
• Spanish: Inés (es)
• Swedish: Agnes (sv)
• Ukrainian: Агнеса f (Ahnesa)
• Vietnamese: Anê

Anagrams

• Geans, Senga, geans

Danish

Proper noun

Agnes

1. a female given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Agnes

Related terms

• Agnete, Agnethe

References

• [1] Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 20 324 females with the given name Agnes have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1900s decade. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

Estonian

Proper noun

Agnes

1. a female given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Agnes

Related terms

• Agne, Age, Aune, Ines, Agneta, Neta

German

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἁγνή (Hagnḗ), coming from Ancient Greek ἁγνός (hagnós, “pure, chaste”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaː.ɡnəs/, /ˈaːk.nəs/
• IPA^(key): /ˈax.nəs/ (northern and central Germany; now chiefly colloquial)

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Agnes f (proper noun, genitive Agnes' or (older ending) Agnesens, plural Agnes)

1. a female given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Agnes

Declension

Declension of Agnes [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Agnes	die	Agnes
genitive	einer	der	Agnes', Agnesens1	der	Agnes
dative	einer	der	Agnes	den	Agnes
accusative	eine	die	Agnes	die	Agnes

¹Older ending.

Related terms

• Ines

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈaɡ.nes/, [ˈäŋnɛs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈaɲ.ɲes/, [ˈäɲːes]

Proper noun

Agnes f sg (genitive Agnetis); third declension

1. (Late Latin) a female given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Agnes or Annyce

Declension

Third-declension noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Agnes
Genitive	Agnetis
Dative	Agnetī
Accusative	Agnetem
Ablative	Agnete
Vocative	Agnes

Norwegian

Proper noun

Agnes

1. a female given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Agnes

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɡnəs/

Proper noun

Agnes

1. a female given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Agnes

Related terms

• Diminutives: Aggie, Annie, Nan, Nansie, Nannie, Nanse

References

• Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Agnes c (genitive Agnes)

1. a female given name from Ancient Greek, equivalent to English Agnes

Related terms

• Agneta, Inez

Anagrams

• agens, anges, gasen

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English Agnes.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈʔaɡnes/, [ˈʔaɡ.nɛs]
• Rhymes: -aɡnes
• Syllabification: Ag‧nes

Proper noun

Agnes (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜄ᜔ᜈᜒᜐ᜔)

1. a female given name from English

Welsh

Alternative forms

• Agnest
• Annest

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɡ.nɪs/

Proper noun

Agnes f

1. a female given name from Ancient Greek ἁγνός (hagnós, “pure”)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
Agnes	unchanged	unchanged	Hagnes
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

Heini Gruffudd (2010) Enwau Cymraeg i Blant / Welsh Names for Children‎^[2], Y Lolfa, →ISBN, page 11