Agnes

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Ines in AR Argentina, BR Brazil, ES Spain and 11 more, Агнесса in RU Russia and Агнеса in UA Ukraine.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 8 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Agnes is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Swahili given name251K records spelled Agnes5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Kenya, Ghana, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Swahili, Akan, Southern Sotho

  Also written Agnès

• a separate given name21K records spelled Agnes8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Also written Agnès, Ágnes, Agnés, Agneš, Á̓gnes

• French (Côte d’Ivoire) given name8.9K records spelled Agnes2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Côte d’Ivoire

  Also written Agnès

• a separate given name1.8K records spelled Agnes9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom

  Also written Ågnes, Ágnes, Agnès, Agnés, Agñés

• Korean given name1.8K records spelled Agnes5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, South Korea, Tanzania, United Kingdom

  Also written Agnès, 아그네스, Ágnes, Ageuneseu

• English (South Africa) given name1.7K records spelled Agnes2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in South Africa, United Kingdom, Tanzania, United States

  Also written Ágnes

• Khmer given name885 records spelled Agnes3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Spain, South Africa, Tanzania

  Also written Ágnes, Agnès

70 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Agnes is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, Greek 'pure'; brought to Ireland by the English, sometimes equated with Una.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, Agnes de Papewurda 1160 P (C); Hugo Agneis 1219 AssL; Robert Agnes 1230 P (L). Fr Agnes, from Greek áγvóς, ‘pure, chaste’, the learned form of the vernacular Anes, Anneis. v. ANNAS.

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, A female given name from Ancient Greek.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Italian, do gr. haghné, ‘pura, casta’; matronímico ligado a santas cristãs

  as a name·Dicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

• In Swedish, Agnes är av grekiskt ursprung, bildat till (h)agnós ’ren, kysk’, senare associerat med latinets agnus ’lamm’. Namnet, också i formen Agnis, användes under medeltiden. Agnes har varit ett populärt flicknamn under de senaste årtiondena. År 2006 nådde det plats tre bland de vanligaste tilltalsnamnen. I både den rikssvenska och finlandssvenska almanackan 21 januari, efter en martyr i Rom (död 303).

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Agnesb. 300ITChristian martyr
• Agnès Sorelb. 1422FRFrench Royal mistress (1422-1450)
• Isabelle de Charrièreb. 1740CHnot in their usual nameDutch French-language writer and composer (1740-1805)
• Mary of Teckb. 1867GBnot in their usual nameQueen consort of the United Kingdom from 1910 to 1936
• Agnes Mooreheadb. 1900USAmerican actress (1900–1974)
• Ethel Mermanb. 1908USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress and singer (1908-1984)
• Joan Leslieb. 1925USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress (1925-2015)
• Agnetha Fältskogb. 1950SEnot in their usual nameSwedish singer (born 1950)
• Agnes Monicab. 1986IDIndonesian singer and actress
• Ágnes Szávayb. 1988HUHungarian tennis player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,120 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Agnes?

We estimate roughly 431 thousand people bear Agnes (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Agnes have the most bearers?

Agnes is most frequently recorded in Argentina, where it is most often spelled ines.

Where is Agnes most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Agnes is densest in Hungary — about 1 in 115 people — even though Argentina holds more of our records for it.

How common is Agnes compared with other names?

In Argentina, Agnes is the 63rd most common given name of 517,176 given names recorded there.

Is Agnes a male or female name?

Agnes is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Agnes mean?

Recorded meaning: from Greek agnos ‘pure, chaste’, learned form of vernacular Anes/Anneis; first attested Agnes de Papewurda 1160 P (C)