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 [ 3 syll. a-gat-ha, ag-a-tha ] The girl name Agatha is pronounced AEGahTHah KEY. Agatha is of Old Greek origin. It is used mainly in English, German, and Italian. Derived from the word agathos with the meaning 'kind, good'. An older form of the name is Agathon (Old Greek). The name was borne by a 3rd-century virgin martyr, known as the patron saint of bell-founders. She was supposed to have suffered the torture of having her breasts cut off, and subsequent paintings depicted her holding them on a platter, thereby associating her with bells due to the similarity in shape. Other pictures depicted loaves of bread on the platter, thereby leading to the custom of blessing bread on her feast day. The name was introduced to English speakers by Normans in the 11th century, and it was used by William the Conqueror for one of his daughters. It was popular in the Middle Ages, often appearing as the Latinized form Agacia. The name dipped in popularity soon after, but was revived in the 19th century along with other medieval names. Agatha is the feminine equivalent of the English Agatho. Agatha is a widely used name; it has 32 forms that are used in both English and foreign languages. English forms of Agatha include Ag, Agata (used in Czech, Italian, Polish, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish too), Agi (used in Hungarian too), Agna (used in German too), Agnessa (used in Russian and Slavic too), Agneta (used in German and Scandinavian too), and Agnetta. Other English forms include the pet forms Aggi, Aggie, and Aggy, and the spelling variant Agetha. Forms of the name used in foreign languages include the Polish Aga, the French Agace, the Russian Agafia, the Russian Agafiya, the Russian Agasha, the Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, and Scandinavian Agathe, the Greek Agathi, the Polish Agatka, the Czech Agáta, the Scandinavian Agda, the Hungarian Agota, the Hungarian Agotha, the Portuguese and Spanish Agueda, the Polish Atka, the Hungarian Ágota, the Spanish Águeda, the Scandinavian Ågot, the Russian Ganya, the Russian Gasha, and the Russian Gashka. The pet form Aagje (Dutch) is another foreign variant. Agatha is uncommon as a baby girl name. At the modest height of its usage in 1913, 0.023% of baby girls were named Agatha. It had a ranking of #392 then. The baby name has seen a marked drop in frequency since then, and is used only on a very light scale now. Within all girl names in its family, Agatha was nevertheless the most frequently used in 2008. Baby names that sound like Agatha include the name Acadya, the Czech, English, Italian, Polish, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, and Spanish Agata, the Greek Agathi, the Czech Agáta, the Hungarian Agota, the Hungarian Agotha, the Arabic Aishatu, the English, German, and Italian Augusta, the Hungarian Ágota, the Slavic Cveta, the Italian Isotta, the English Acadia, the name Acadiah, the name Acadyah, the English Agate, the Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, and Scandinavian Agathe, the Scandinavian Agda, the Portuguese and Spanish Agueda, the Hebrew, English, German, Scandinavian, and Finnish Asta, and the German Auguste. A famous person named Agatha is Author, Agatha Christie, born Agatha May Clarissa Miller 15 September 1890 - 12 January 1976, Torquay, Devon, England. KEY: Pronunciation for Agatha: AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; G as in "green (G.R.IY.N)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; TH as in "theta (TH.EY.T.AH)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"   |
