Agnieszka
Of Polish origin, meaning "chaste" or "pure one".
Name Census estimates that about 224 living Americans carry the first name Agnieszka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Agnieszka today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Agnieszka births was 1990 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Agnieszka. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
224
~ 1 in 1,530,153 Americans
Peak year
1990
23 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,173
Tracked since 1979
Popularity
Agnieszka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Agnieszka from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 118 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Agnieszka by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Agnieszka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Agnieszkas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Agnieszka
The name Agnieszka is a Polish feminine form of the Greek name Agnes, derived from the ancient Greek word "agnos" meaning "pure" or "chaste." It finds its roots in the Latin name "Agnēs," which itself comes from the ancient Greek word "hagnos" meaning "sacred" or "holy." The name gained popularity in Poland during the Middle Ages, likely due to the influence of the Catholic Church and the veneration of St. Agnes, an early Christian martyr.
The earliest recorded use of the name Agnieszka in Poland can be traced back to the 12th century, where it appears in historical records and documents. One of the earliest notable individuals to bear this name was Agnieszka, the daughter of Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland, who lived in the late 12th century.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Agnieszka. In the 14th century, Agnieszka of Bohemia (1313-1337) was a Bohemian princess and the first wife of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. In the 16th century, Agnieszka Firley (1522-1567) was a Polish noblewoman and the second wife of King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland.
In the realm of literature, the name gained prominence through the works of the renowned Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, whose novel "The Books of Jacob" features a character named Agnieszka. The book was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature in 2018.
Other notable individuals with the name Agnieszka include Agnieszka Radwańska (born 1989), a former professional tennis player from Poland who achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 2; Agnieszka Osiecka (1936-1997), a celebrated Polish poet, writer, and songwriter; and Agnieszka Holland (born 1948), an acclaimed Polish film director known for her works such as "Europa Europa" and "In Darkness."
While the name Agnieszka has its roots in ancient Greek and Latin, it has become a beloved and distinctly Polish name, carrying a rich cultural heritage and historical significance. Its enduring popularity over the centuries is a testament to its beauty and cultural resonance within the Polish tradition.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Agnieszka
People
Agnieszka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Agnieszka as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Agnieszka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Agnieszka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 224 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Agnieszka going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,530,153 US residents.
Is Agnieszka a common name?
We classify Agnieszka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 233 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Agnieszka most popular?
The single biggest year for Agnieszka was 1990, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Agnieszka is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Agnieszka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Agnieszka in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.