Agnes

Agnes meaning

Agnes is a Christian girl's name of Greek origin.

Pure, chaste; from Greek hagnos

Also used to mean: holy

Agnes comes from the Greek name Hagnē, the feminine form of the adjective hagnos. Strong's Concordance, which lists hagnos as a New Testament word, gives it as clean, innocent, modest and pure, so the name means "pure" or "chaste". It is not itself a biblical name, but it spread through the cult of Saint Agnes of Rome, a young virgin martyr whose feast falls on 21 January. Because the name sounds like Latin agnus, "lamb", she is usually shown with a lamb, and two lambs are blessed in her church in Rome on her feast day. In India the name has a special link: Mother Teresa was born Agnes (Anjezë) Gonxha Bojaxhiu.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, G53 · entry hagnos · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Strong's Greek 53, hagnos (Bible Hub) · Britannica, St. Agnes · Britannica, Mother Teresa

Famous namesakes

• Saint Agnes of Rome, early Christian martyr
• Mother Teresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu

Popularity abroad

• #509 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Related names

Also meaning purity

More names of Greek origin

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