Agatha, also Agata, is a feminine given name derived from the Greek feminine name Ἀγάθη (Agáthē; alternative form: Ἀγαθή Agathḗ), which is a nominalized form of ἀγαθή (agathḗ), i.e. the feminine form of the adjective ἀγαθός (agathós) "good".^[2][3][4]

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.^[5] Agatha was last ranked among the top 1,000 names for girls born in the United States during the 1930s.^[6]

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

In Russian, the name "Ага́та" (Agata) was borrowed from the Western European languages, and derives from the same Ancient Greek root from which older names Agafya^[7] and Agafa^[8] also come. Its masculine version is Agat.^[9] In 1924–1930, the name was included into various Soviet calendars,^[10] 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.^[11]

Its diminutives include Agatka (Ага́тка), Aga (А́га), and Gata (Га́та).^[8]

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.^[12]

• Agatha de Lacey, a minor character in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
• Agatha Clay/Heterodyne, the heroine of the Girl Genius comic book series
• Agatha Magtibay, one of the main protagonists that is evil in The Blood Sisters (TV series)
• Agatha Crumm, the title character of a newspaper comic strip
• Agatha Flugelschmidt, a character in the live action/animated television series Noddy played by Jayne Eastwood
• Agatha Gregson or Aunt Agatha, recurring character in the Jeeves stories of British writer P. G. Wodehouse
• Agatha Hannigan, disturbed caregiver and central antagonist of Annie (musical)
• Agatha Harkness, Marvel Comics witch
• Agatha "Aggie" Prenderghast, the main antagonist of ParaNorman
• Agatha Raisin, amateur detective in a series of novels by M.C. Beaton
• Agatha Troy, Ngaio Marsh character, wife of Roderick Alleyn
• Agatha Trunchbull, the sadistic antagonist of Roald Dahl's book Matilda
• Agatha (Pokémon), a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise
• Agatha, from the 2014 American comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Agatha of Woods Beyond, one of the main characters in the book series The School for Good and Evil'

• Agaate (Estonian)^[13]
• Agafia (Ukrainian)^{[citation needed]}
• Agat(h)e (Danish, French,^[9] Greek, Norwegian)^{[citation needed]}
• Agata or Ágata (Galician, Portuguese, Italian,^[9] Polish, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, foreign adaptation for Ukrainian)^{[citation needed]}
• Agáta (Czech, Slovak)^{[citation needed]}
• Ágota/Agota (Hungarian, Lithuanian)^{[citation needed]}
• Agate (Latvian)^{[citation needed]}
• Águeda (Galician, Portuguese, Spanish)^{[citation needed]}
• Àgueda or Àgata (Catalan)^{[citation needed]}
• Ukanesh, Ukiana (Chuvash)^{[citation needed]}
• Agatha, Agata (Indonesian)
• Ågot (Norwegian)^[4]
• Agafya (Russian)^[9]

• Agathe Cléry, 2008 French movie