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Origin: |
Eugénie is the French form of Eugenia, itself the feminine form of Eugene. Eugene and Eugenia are both derived from the Ancient Greek names Eugenios (Eugenius in Latin) and Eugeneia, composed of the elements eu "good" and genos "birth." It essentially means "well born." |
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Usage: |
Early European Use The Lexicon of Greek Personal Names (LGPN) has 29 examples of Eugeneia and 2 examples of Eugenia in use from the earliest Ancient Greek written records to the 6th century A.D. This puts it in the 'moderate' range of use: not especially popular - but not unheard of either. Eugenia can also be found in inscriptions from the Roman Catacombs* and was used within the Byzantine Empire (in which Greek was the official language). Saint Eugenia of Rome (d. 258) is a semi-legendary early Christian martyr. Legend had it that she disguised herself as a man and became an abbot. Eugenia was used in small numbers in the Middle Ages in Britain and in Spain and Italy.* Eugénie was used in France since at least the 16th century. Royalty Eugénie became a royal name in the early 19th century. First came the birth of Princess Eugénie of Sweden and Norway (birth name Charlotta Eugenia Augusta Amalia Albertina) in 1830, the daughter of King Oscar I of Sweden. She was named in honour of her grandfather Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg, the stepson of Napoleon I. This Princess Eugénie was active as a philanthropist, composer, painter, sculptor and writer. Then, in 1853, Napoleon III of France married Spanish noblewoman María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox y KirkPatrick, 16th Countess of Teba and 15th Marquise of Ardales (known as Eugénie de Montijo in France). Empress Eugénie took refuge in Britain from 1870, after her husband was deposed with France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, where she lived until her death in 1920, aged 94. In 1887, Empress Eugénie became the godmother of Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (1887–1969), later Queen of Spain, the daughter of Princess Beatrice and granddaughter of Queen Victoria. In 1990, Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York named their second daughter Eugenie Victoria Helena. Pronunciation The French pronunciation of Eugénie is OO-zhə-nee [key]. However, Eugenie's pronunciation is more confused in Britain. The most common pronunciation here is often yoo-ZHAY-nee, with a French-style g, but the stress on the middle syllable. Then there is also yoo-JAY-nee or yoo-ZHEE-nee. For Princess Eugenie of York? It's YOO-zhə-nee, with the stress on the the first syllable. Her mother, Sarah Ferguson, describes it as "YOO-junnee". Hear it said here, by Princess Eugenie herself, in her marriage vows: Princess Eugenie's name pronunciation was actually the second blog post to appear on this website way back in 2011, when there was still no consistency in the media as to how to pronounce her name. However, with her wedding, media outlets have recently been more conscious of pronouncing her name correctly. The problem stemmed right back from her birth in 1990, with confusion from both the palace — who "requested the name be pronounced “U-jay-nay,” with a French inflection"* — and the newspapers who offered "everything from “Ur-je-knee” to “Uzhaynee.”"* The Sun Newspaper even set up a hotline offering their readers the Palace pronunciation and received 40,000 calls in two days. The 'jay-nay' part of the request from Buckingham Palace seems to have caused some of the confusion as this implies that the second part of the names has the stronger vowels. France In 1900, Eugénie ranked #14 in France. Though we have no French name data prior to this, it is reasonable to assume that Eugénie had risen in popularity over the 19th century in France, most likely thanks to the fame of Empress Eugénie. The name gradually declined over the 20th century, leaving the top 30 in 1910, the top 50 in 1921, and the top 100 in 1932. It dropped out of the French top 500 in 1961, but saw a revival in the 1980s and 1990s when it plateaued at the #180 mark. In 2017, Eugénie ranked #429 in France. England and Wales As a deposed Empress living in Britain, Empress Eugénie became a household name from the 1850s onwards. This article from 1877 features a poem bemoaning "fanciful" names among the working classes, of which Eugenie is mentioned as one such name. The name saw a huge boost in the second quarter of 1855 in England and Wales when Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie made a state visit to Queen Victoria. The name went from 3 births in 1850, 5 in 1852 to 153 in 1855 alone. The visit also seemed to have an influence on the English variant, Eugenia, as well. Births in England and Wales:
Since 1996, Eugenie has had no more than 11 births in any given year. Eugenia has had fewer than 8. In 2017, Eugenie ranked #3583 (6 births) and Eugenia ranked #5765 (3 births) in England and Wales. |
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Famous Bearers: |
Royalty: * Empress Eugénie (1826–1920), Empress Consort to Napoléon III. History: * Eugénie D'Hannetaire (1746–1816), French actress. Contemporary: * Eugénie Le Sommer (born 1989), French female footballer. Literature and Other Media: * The principal character of La Philosophie dans le boudoir (1795) by the Marquis de Sade. |
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Variants: |
Eugenia (English, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Polish), Evgenia, Zhenya (Greek, Russian, Bulgarian), Eukene (Basque), Uxía (Galician) |
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Pronunciation: |
yoo-ZHAY-nee, yoo-JAY-nee, YOO-jən-ee (UK) ; OO-zhə-nee (French) [key] |
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Booj, Eugie, Eug, Genie, Ginny, Janie, Jennie, Una |
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Sibling Names: |
Delphine Ottilie Heloise Cosima Felicia Christabel |
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Name Lists: |
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