On Annas and Agnieszkas

Posted by: Anna Ikeda

I know there are some foreigners out there who are convinced that 50% of Polish women are named Anna and the other 49% – Agnieszka. The remaining percent is claimed by Katarzyna, Małgorzata and Edyta, with a few Grażynas stuck in there for variety’s sake.

I always shook my head with disbelief when I heard such a thing and went on my merry way murmuring something under my nose about clueless foreigners.

But lately, I see that, golly gee whiz, they actually might have been right. I did a first name tally of my Polish female friends and acquaintances and to my utter shock and horror saw the naked truth about Annas and Agnieszkas.

Exactly 50% of the women I know are named Anna (and I didn’t even include myself in this head count). About 30% are named Agnieszka. And the rest are indeed Katarzynas, Małgorzatas, Edytas and Grażynas. There’s also a Wioletta and a Paulina and a Dominika and two Monikas.

And that got me thinking. How do people choose those names for their children?
My parents wanted something universal in every language, without any funny Polish letters, impossible pronunciations, and short enough so every dummy (including myself) could remember it very easily.

And while Anna is pronounced differently in different parts of the world, it’s still easy to guess that it’s me they’re talking about. In Poland, it’s “ahn – na”, by the way. The middle “n” is doubled not only in writing, but also in sound.

But not all Polish names are so accommodating. If you’re ever heard a foreigner butchering “Katarzyna”, you know what I’m talking about.

Still, that doesn’t explain the immense popularity of Annas and Agnieszkas in Poland.

And why am I writing about it today? I met a new person yesterday, a foreigner. I told him I was Polish, but didn’t introduce myself.

He said, “let me guess – Agnieszka?”
I said, “no.” And his answer was, “then it must be Anna.” And bingo.

Now there’s another person out there convinced that every Polish woman is named either Anna or Agnieszka.

Post from: Polish Blog

Posted by: Anna Ikeda

Tags: culture, first names