Meaning and history
Latinized form of the Greek name Ἅγνη (Hagne), from Greek ἁγνός (hagnos) meaning “chaste.” Saint Agnes was a virgin martyred during the persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian, and her name came to be associated with Latin agnus “lamb,” which led to her frequent depiction with a lamb at her side. Because of her fame, the name spread through Christian Europe and was highly popular in England from the Middle Ages to the 17th century, then revived in the 19th century and common into the 20th before declining after the 1930s; it last appeared in the American top 1000 in 1972.
20062006: 68 births, rank #2,631
2007: 65 births, rank #2,787
2008: 61 births, rank #2,887
2009: 81 births, rank #2,375
2010: 67 births, rank #2,670
20112011: 97 births, rank #2,017
2012: 123 births, rank #1,698
2013: 124 births, rank #1,689
2014: 191 births, rank #1,261
2015: 191 births, rank #1,275
20162016: 233 births, rank #1,103
2017: 199 births, rank #1,208
2018: 198 births, rank #1,199
2019: 215 births, rank #1,125
2020: 182 births, rank #1,246
20212021: 216 births, rank #1,138
2022: 228 births, rank #1,095
2023: 229 births, rank #1,081
2024: 235 births, rank #1,061
20252025: 246 births, rank #1,016
Agnes moved from #966 to #988 for girls between 1971 and 1972. Its highest annual birth count came in 1918, with 5,291 births.