The Name Agnes
Hello Native Speakers of English!
What are the various ways of nicely calling a girl whose name is Agnes? In other words, what are the diminutive forms of this name?
Does this name sound similar to 'magnet'?
Another question: how popular is this name in English speaking countries? Does anybody know an Agnes from school or from work?
Agnes sounds a very old fashioned name.....I've never met a girl called Agnes and I don't think baby girls are given that name any more but I'm not sure about that. No doubt someone will come in here and disagree and say they know loads of Agneses (if that's the right plural form). It's probably gone the way of a lot of old fashioned sounding names like Ethel, Maud, Hilda and Dorothy etc.
There are a fair number of Scottish girls' names which are used here today but not in England. The same goes for boys' names, too.
A diminutive form would be Aggie I reckon. Again, I don't personally know of any Aggie but I suppose there are some around.
Off hand, I can't think of any famous or well known Agnes so maybe it's not a common name.
The only sound similarity with "magnet" is the "ag" bit. ['@gnes]
Thank you, Damian.
I suppose that Aggie is pronounced ['@gi:], right?
I would like to establish which is the right way of saying that something belongs to Agnes. I mean how to use the Saxon genetive 's.
Should it be Agnes's mother or Agnes' mother? How would it be pronounced?
Is Aggie also a diminutive for Agatha?
Agnes is often the anglicized version of Agnieszka (a very popular Polish name) and I can't think of a diminutive form. I think it's like my name, Aaron. No shortened form is possible.
Aggie sounds too corny to really be used.
'Agnes' has a dimunuitive form in Spanish Inesita (from Inez) but none in English that I know of. The name means 'chaste' or 'pure' in Greek but has a different meaning in Latin, 'lamb'. The original St. Agnes was probably a Greek person (almost all of the early Catholic saints were). The 'Catholic Encyclopedia' says "Since the Middle Ages St. Agnes has been represented with a lamb, the symbol of her virginal innocence. "
I've always thought of Agnes as being a very Scottish name, sort of like Angus!
I don't think that Aggie would be a very good diminutive name since it sounds exactly the same as Eggy! Unless you like eggs...
No connection at all as far as I know! Angus is 100% Scottish...a great masculine sounding name. I'm aware of St Agnes as I am Catholic myself but I've never actually met an Agnes.
St Agnes: c292 to c 304 Christian child martyr under Diocletian, the Roman Emperor. Feast Day 21 January.
Agnès is a quite common name in French
Inès is too, but much less spread than Agnès
I personally know a few girls names Agnès
" The name means 'chaste' or 'pure' in Greek but has a different meaning in Latin, 'lamb'. "
In French, "lamb" is said "Agneau", so not far from Agnès.
Never met an Agnes myself. I suspect that most of them wouldn't appreciate being called "Aggie".
I don't know any Agneses or Aggies, but I agree that if there is a diminuitive of Agnes in English, it is Aggie. Yet still, Agnes is a very old fashioned name, and I'm guessing that if there are any left (at least here in the states), they are probably old ladies, or else are French.
Heh, "Agnes" pronounced in English sounds icky to me...
On the other hand, the Polish "Agnieszka" is the prettiest name anyone could ever have. I was lucky to have had an "Agnieska" as a classmate ^.~
Concerning the guess that all Agneses in the United States are old ladies, I propose to check out this website:
http://www.agnes-bruckner.com
The Agnes from that site is not French.