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Agatha (given name)

{{About||the ancient Greek city Agatha or Agathe in Southern France|Agde}}

{{Infobox name

| name = Agatha

| image = Agatha orthodox icon.jpg

| caption = An Orthodox icon of St. Agatha of Sicily, the saint responsible for the wide usage of the name Agatha

| pronunciation = {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|ɡ|ə|θ|ə}}{{cite web |url=http://phonetic-blog.blogspot.com/2010/03/agatha-and-helena.html |title=Agatha and Helena |last=Wells |first=John |author-link=John C. Wells |date=26 March 2010 |access-date=22 April 2010 |work=John Wells's phonetic blog}}

| gender = Female

| meaning = "good"

| language = Ancient Greek

| name day = 5 February{{cite book |last=Hanks |first=Patrick |authorlink=Patrick Hanks |last2=Hardcastle |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |publisher=Oxford University Press |publication-place=Oxford, England |series=Oxford paperback reference |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |oclc=67869278 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9nd05X_awIgC |pages=42–43 |access-date=20 November 2024}}

| seealso = Ag, Aggy, Aggi, Aggie

| variant forms = Ágatha, Agata, Ágata, Agafa

}}

Agatha, also Agata, is a feminine given name derived from the Greek feminine name {{lang|grc|Ἀγάθη}} (Agáthē; alternative form: {{lang|grc|Ἀγαθή}} Agathḗ), which is a nominalized form of {{lang|grc|ἀγαθή}} (agathḗ), i.e. the feminine form of the adjective {{lang|grc|ἀγαθός}} (agathós) "good".{{LSJ|a)gaqo/s|ἀγαθός|ref}}.{{OEtymD|Agatha}}{{cite web |title=Agata |url=http://isof.se/sprak/namn/personnamn/dagens-namn-i-almanackan/kalender/namnsdagar/namnkalender/2013-10-31-agata.html |publisher=Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore |language=sv |access-date=5 February 2020}}

It was the name of St. Agatha of Sicily, a third-century Christian martyr. Rarely has the name been given in English-speaking countries during recent years.[http://www.behindthename.com/name/agatha Behind the Name] Agatha was last ranked among the top 1,000 names for girls born in the United States during the 1930s.[http://www.behindthename.com/top/search.php?terms=agatha Behind the Name]

“Agatha” is a common name in Greece and countries that speak Germanic languages.

Russian name

In Russian, the name "{{lang|ru|Ага́та}}" (Agata) was borrowed from the Western European languages, and derives from the same Ancient Greek root from which older names AgafyaNikonov, p. 63 and AgafaPetrovsky, p. 38 also come. Its masculine version is Agat.Superanskaya [1], p. 251 In 1924–1930, the name was included into various Soviet calendars,Superanskaya [2], pp. 22 and 278 which included the new and often purposefully created names promoting the new Soviet realities and encouraging the break with the tradition of using the names in the Synodal Menologia.Toronto Slavic Quarterly. Елена Душечкина. "[http://sites.utoronto.ca/tsq/12/dushechkina12.shtml Мессианские тенденции в советской антропонимической практике 1920-х - 1930-х годов]" {{in lang|ru}}

Its diminutives include Agatka ({{lang|ru|Ага́тка}}), Aga ({{lang|ru|А́га}}), and Gata ({{lang|ru|Га́та}}).

Regional variants

= Diminutive variants =

  • Aagje or Aagtje (Dutch)[https://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/verklaring/naam/Aagje Aagje] and [https://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/verklaring/naam/Aagtje Aagtje] at the Meertens Institute database of Dutch given names
  • Agacia (Polish){{citation needed|date=February 2015}}
  • Agusia (Polish){{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
  • Agatina (Italian)
  • Agatka (Polish){{citation needed|date=February 2015}}
  • Aggie (English){{citation needed|date=February 2015}}
  • Ági (Hungarian){{citation needed|date=February 2015}}
  • Agunia (Polish){{citation needed|date=February 2015}}
  • Aguś (Polish){{citation needed|date=February 2015}}
  • Agotėlė (Lithuanian){{citation needed|date=February 2015}}
  • Agasha (Russian)
  • Ague (Spanish)
  • Aet (Estonian)

Popularity

Agatha has been a rare name in the Anglosphere. It is most often associated with British mystery author Agatha Christie. Recent increases in use in the United States have been associated with its usage for television and movie characters such as Agatha Hannigan, played by popular singer and comic actress Carol Burnett in the 1982 film musical Annie. The appeal of other fictional characters such as precognitive Agatha Lively, played by Samantha Morton in the 2002 film Minority Report, Agatha, an attractive young woman character played by Saoirse Ronan in the 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel, Agatha Raisin, an amateur detective in the 2016 TV series based on a series of mystery novels by M.C. Beaton, and Agatha Harkness, a witch played by Kathryn Hahn in the 2021 television series WandaVision, have given the name an avant-garde, attractively quirky image that has inspired more parents to use the name for their daughters. There were 136 newborn American girls called Agatha in 2021, the most since 1926.{{cite web |url=https://omaha.com/lifestyles/cleveland-evans-agathas-popularity-is-a-mystery/article_720caf3a-2eed-11ed-ade2-9316cc96ecea.html |title=Evans: Agatha's Popularity is a Mystery |last=Evans |first=Cleveland Kent |date=11 September 2022 |website=omaha.com |publisher=Omaha World Herald |access-date=12 December 2023 |quote=}}

People

= Agatha =

= Agathe =

= Agata =

Fictional characters

See also

References

= Notes =

{{Reflist}}

= Sources =

  • В. А. Никонов (V. A. Nikonov). "Ищем имя" (Looking for a Name). Изд. "Советская Россия". Москва, 1988. {{ISBN|5-268-00401-8}}
  • Н. А. Петровский (N. A. Petrovsky). "Словарь русских личных имён" (Dictionary of Russian First Names). ООО Издательство "АСТ". Москва, 2005. {{ISBN|5-17-002940-3}}
  • [1] А. В. Суперанская (A. V. Superanskaya). "Современный словарь личных имён: Сравнение. Происхождение. Написание" (Modern Dictionary of First Names: Comparison. Origins. Spelling). Айрис-пресс. Москва, 2005. {{ISBN|5-8112-1399-9}}
  • [2] А. В. Суперанская (A. V. Superanskaya). "Словарь русских имён" (Dictionary of Russian Names). Издательство Эксмо. Москва, 2005. {{ISBN|5-699-14090-5}}

{{given name}}

Category:Feminine given names

Category:Given names of Greek language origin