Agnes
About Agnes
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, while Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany named their daughter Agnes Lark. More recently in 2025, actress Amber Heard named one of her twins Agnes.
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.
Pronounced AG-nes.
As of October 2026, Agnes ranked #1016 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #37 in 1899, Nameberry popularity #256.
Editor's take: The name Agnes is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pure, virginal".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,260 | 191 | 106.9 |
| 2015 | #1,275 | 191 | 107 |
| 2016 | #1,103 | 233 | 131.5 |
| 2017 | #1,208 | 199 | 115.3 |
| 2018 | #1,199 | 198 | 116.4 |
| 2019 | #1,124 | 215 | 128.1 |
| 2020 | #1,247 | 182 | 112.6 |
| 2021 | #1,141 | 215 | 131 |
| 2022 | #1,093 | 228 | 139 |
| 2023 | #1,079 | 229 | 142.7 |
| 2024 | #1,063 | 233 | 143.8 |
| 2025 | #1,016 | 246 | 153.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Agnes.
- Dorothea
- Agatha
- Winifred
- Henrietta
- Philippa
- Wilhelmina
- Edith
- Frances
- Dorothy
- Augusta
- Maude
- Ramona
- Tabitha
- Constance
- Bernadette
- Harriet
- Sybil
- Alma
- Esther
- Theodora
Agnes on lists
Famous Agness
- 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."
- Agnes DeMille
character in the TV show “Wednesday”
Variations & nicknames
- AgneseSpanish
- AgnescaItalian
- OanezBreton
- AneteItalian
- AgnetheScandinavian
- AnkaCzech
- AgnellaItalian
- AnezkaCzech
- AgnessaRussian
- AgnesaCzech
- NezaSlavic
- AgniaRussian
- InesPortuguese
- AgnetaScandinavian
- AnnekeDutch
- NessaRussian
- NestaWelsh
- YnesSpanish
- InezPortuguese
- AgnaGerman
- AgnesinaItalian
- AgnolaItalian
- AignéisIrish Gaelic
- InessaRussian
- InesaSpanish
- YnezSpanish
- AntjeGerman
- AgnekScandinavian
- AnkeGerman
- AgneskaCzech
- AgneScandinavian
- HagneItalian