Agnes

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Agnes is a feminine given name derived from the Greek Ἁγνή Hagnḗ, meaning 'pure' or 'holy'. This was Latinized Hagnes, and passed to Italian as Agnese, to French as Agnès, to Agnes in English and other Germanic languages, to Portuguese as Inês, and to Spanish as Inés. Inès and Inez are modern French and English (international) derivatives of the Iberian variant. The name descends from the Proto-Indo-European *h₁yaǵ-, meaning 'to sacrifice; to worship', from which also the Vedic term yajña originates. The Sanskrit Agni (अग्नि, ’fire’) can perhaps also be seen as related. The name is mostly used in Greece and in countries that speak Germanic languages. It was the name of a popular Christian saint, Agnes of Rome, a fact which encouraged its wide use. "Agnes" was the third-most popular name for women in the English-speaking world for more than 400 years. The traditional Welsh variant or diminutive is Nesta. Its medieval English pronunciation was Annis, and this and many other of its forms coincided with the equally popular name "Anna" (incl. Anne and Ann) which has a different origin, derived from the Hebrew 'Hannah" ('God favored me') rather than from the Greek. Agnes remained a widely used name throughout the 1960s in the United States, and last ranked among the top 1,000 names for American baby girls during that decade. The peak of Agnes' popularity came between 1900 and 1920, when it was among the top fifty given names for American girls. Agnieszka was the sixth-most popular name for girls born in Poland in 2007, having risen as high as third place in Sweden and Poland in 2006. It also ranked among the top one hundred names for baby girls born in Hungary in 2005. Neža, a Slovene shortened variant of the name, ranked among the top ten...