Imogen (given name)

Imogen

Imogen from Shakespeare's Cymbeline in a painting by Herbert Gustave Schmalz

Pronunciation| /ˈɪmədʒən/
Gender| Female
Origin
Word/name| Unknown, possibly Celtic or Germanic
Meaning| Unknown, possibly "maiden", "girl", or “beloved child”
Other names
Related names| Imogene, Innogen (Ignoge, Inogene), Immy or Imi (nickname), Imo (nickname), Moggie or Mog (nickname)

Imogen (/ˈɪmədʒən/), or Imogene (/ˈɪmədʒiːn/), is a female given name of uncertain etymology.

## Origin

[edit]

It is possible that the name Imogen may have originated as an accidental or deliberate misspelling of the name Innogen, itself a possibly common Irish Gaelic name in the past, from the word 'inghean' meaning "maiden" or "girl",[1] or a British Celtic name derived from the Latin Innocentia.[2] Innogen is known as the name of a legendary British queen and was supposedly wife to King Brutus and mother of Locrinus, Albanactus and Camber. The form Innogen is rare.[3] Another theory is that it is derived from Greek, meaning "beloved child".[4]

Imogen was the name of a politically influential sister[5] of Rivallon I of Dol, a contemporary and ally of William the Conqueror during the Breton-Norman War.

## Popularity

[edit]

In England and Wales; it was the 34th most popular baby girl name in 2014,[6] whilst in Australia, Imogen was the 35th most popular name for baby girls from 2011–2013.[7] It was ranked 86th in popularity for baby girls in Scotland in 2007.[8]

As of July 2014, Imogen had never been in the top 1000 most popular baby names in the United States, with only 131 baby girls named Imogen in the US in 2013.[9]

## People

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* Imogen Annesley (born 1970), Australian actress
* Imogen Bailey (born 1977), Australian model, actress and singer
* Imogen Bankier (born 1987), Scottish badminton player
* Imogen Binnie (born 1978/1979), American novelist and screenwriter
* Imogen Boorman (born 1971), British actress from Hellbound: Hellraiser II
* Imogen Cairns (born 1989), British gymnast
* Imogene Coca (1908–2001), American comic actress
* Imogen Cooper (born 1949), English pianist
* Imogen Cunningham (1883–1976), American photographer
* Imogen Edwards-Jones (born 1968), British author
* Imogen Grant (born 1996), British rower
* Imogen Hassall (1942–1980), British actress
* Imogen Heap (born 1977), English singer-songwriter
* Imogen Holst (1907–1984), British composer and conductor
* Imogen King (born 1996), English actress
* Imogen Kogge (born 1957), German actress
* Imogen LaChance (1853–1938), American social reformer
* Imogen Lloyd Webber (born 1977), British writer and theatre manager
* Imogen Murphy, Irish film and television director
* Imogen Poots (born 1989), British actress
* Imogen Simmonds [es] (born 1993), British-Swiss triathlete
* Imogen Stuart (1927–2024), German sculptor
* Imogen Stubbs (born 1961), English actress
* Imogen Thomas (born 1982), Welsh model and contestant on Big Brother UK
* Imogen Waterhouse (born 1994), English actress and model

## Fictional characters

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* Imogen (Shakespeare) from William Shakespeare's play Cymbeline
* Imogene, from Vincenzo Bellini's 1827 opera Il pirata
* Imogen, a character from Psyopus' 3-part song "Imogen's Puzzle"
* Imogen, portrayed by Julia Stiles in the comedy Down to You
* Imogen, from the book Bad Dreams by Anne Fine
* Imogen, from the book Imogen by Jilly Cooper
* Imogen, Angus' younger sister in the Australian children's novel Bumface written by Morris Gleitzman
* Imogene Herdman, from Barbara Robinson's children's story The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
* Imogen, daughter of Winifred Dartie (née Forsyte), from The Forsyte Saga
* Imogene, from Charles De Lint's The Blue Girl and In This Soul of a Woman
* Imogene "Idgie" Threadgoode, from Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
* Imogen, from Jonathan Coe's novel The Rain Before It Falls
* Imogen, from BBC's British children's television comedy-drama series Sadie J
* Imogen Book, from Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox
* Imogen Brocklehurst, a character in Imogen
* Imogene O'Neil, heroine of the 2009 miniseries Meteor, played by Marla Sokoloff
* Imogen Melford, one of the four Melford sisters in Diana Wynne Jones's The Time of the Ghost
* Imogen Moreno, in the Canadian drama Degrassi
* Imogen Hazard, one of many twin girls in Angela Carter's 1991 book Wise Children
* Imogen, played by Louisa Lytton in the 2009 teen comedy American Pie Presents: The Book of Love
* Imogène, from Charles Exbrayat's series of humorous novels
* Aunt Imogene, from the 2010 film Alice in Wonderland portrayed by Frances de la Tour
* Imogene, Trixie Delight's maid in Addie Pray by Joe David Brown, also appearing in the film Paper Moon based on the novel
* Imogene Graham, a major character in Indian Summer, an 1886 novel by William Dean Howells
* Imogen, the principal female character in the Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen
* Imogen, from Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
* Imogen Clark, a minor character in What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
* Imogen Reed, from the video game SOMA
* Imogen, from Imogen Says Nothing, a play by Aditi Kapil
* Imogene Cleary, from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an Amazon original TV series. Played by Bailey De Young
* Imogen Staxton-Billing, from the Revengers' Comedies plays and Malcolm Mowbray's 1998 film Sweet Revenge, played by Kristin Scott Thomas
* Imogene Duncan, from the 2012 film Girl Most Likely, played by Kristen Wiig
* Imogen Spurnrose, from the Amazon original series Carnival Row, played by Tamzin Merchant
* Imogen Royce, an assassination target in the Hitman 3 video game
* Imogen Temult, Laura Bailey's character from campaign three of Critical Role
* Imogen Heaney, Rhea Norwood’s character in the Netflix adaptation of Alice Oseman’s series Heartstopper
* Imogen Adams, the protagonist of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, played by Bailee Madison
* Imogen Gunn, from Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith
* Imogen S'Jet, From Homeworld 3
* Imogen Woods, Protagonist from Deep Space Discounts by DeepBlueInk
* Imogen Cardulo, From Fourth Wing
* Imogen Herondale, From The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

## References

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1. ^ Norman, Teresa (2003). A World of Baby Names. Penguin. p. 131\. ISBN 978-0-399-52894-1.
2. ^ Bartrum, Peter C. (2009) [1993]. "Innogen daughter of Pandrasus" (PDF). In MPS (ed.). A Welsh Classical Dictionary. Vol. 7\. National Library of Wales. p. 442.
3. ^ John Pitcher, 'Names in Cymbeline', Essays in Criticism, v. 43(1), 1993, specifically pp. 3–8; subscription required.
4. ^ Brown, Michele (1985). The New Book of First Names. Corgi. p. 154\. ISBN 9780552122573.
5. ^ Marjorie Chibnall, ed. (1990). Anglo-Norman Studies XIII: Proceedings of the Battle Conference. p. 168.
6. ^ "The 100 most popular baby names in England and Wales in 2014 – the full list". The Guardian. 17 August 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016.
7. ^ Sullivan, Rebecca (5 May 2015). "Australia's top 10 baby names". News.com.au. News Corp Australia. Archived from the original on 6 December 2015.
8. ^ Behind the Name
9. ^ Redmond Satran, Pamela (9 July 2014). "The most popular baby names of 2014 so far are..." Today Parents. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016.

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