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Origin: |
Imogen was famously established as a given name by William Shakespeare's play Cymbeline (c.1611) which is based on various figures from early British history. The play is named for Cymbeline, the Roman vassal king of Britain. His two sons were stolen away twenty years prior, leaving only his daughter Imogen who has recently secretly married Posthumus Leonatus. Because Imogen is his only heir, Cymbeline annuls the marriage and banished Posthumus who flees to Italy. While in Italy, Posthumus meets Iachimo who makes a bet that he can seduce Imogen. Iachimo attempts several times to seduce Imogen but continually sends him packing. Iachimo then hides in Imogen's room and, while she sleeps, steals the bracelet Posthumus gave her, and notes a mole on her body. Returning to Posthumus, Iachimo convinces him that Imogen has been unfaithful. In a rage, Posthumus orders his servant to murder her. The story gets more convoluted from here, with typical Shakespearean cross-dressing, disguise and revealed long-lost relatives. Eventually, after disguising herself as a boy to escape murder, Imogen's identity and innocence is revealed to a remorseful Posthumus and her father allows them to marry when her brothers return home. It is widely regarded by many scholars that Imogen is scribal error, in the Folio, of Innogen: a name which appears in early British folklore and mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (c.1136) in the forms Ignoge, Ygnogen or Enogen (depending on the translation). According to legend, this Innogen was the wife of Brutus of Troy, the legendary founder of Britain and therefore considered the first "Queen of Britain." It is widely agreed that her name derives from the Old Irish ingen "maiden, daughter, girl." As the daughter of the Greek king Pandrasus, Innogen and Brutus married as part of a peace-deal and an alliance. It is possible that "Innogen" was used in early Celtic accounts to identify her as the "daughter" of Pandrasus, rather than to indicate her actual given name. The idea that Imogen is a scribal error for Innogen is widely discussed by scholars. Some theatrical producers have even started to use the name Innogen instead of Imogen in productions of Cymbeline* but this is a hotly debated subject. Some scholars (particular John Pitcher, 2005) argue that, though Shakespeare was likely aware of Innogen, the use of Imogen was his own choice, perhaps based on a philological change of Innogen that already existed * or, given that many of the names in Cymbeline were based on Italian names, perhaps Imogen was based on the Italian word imaggine "image, appearance."* Conversely, some scholars feel that Shakespeare's choice of Innogen was symbolic, thanks to its similarity to the word "innocence" which is a key part of the heroine's character. Personally, I find the evidence for an accidental change from Innogen to Imogen quite compelling. In the first case, several other contemporary and earlier plays and works used the name Innogen. It appears in Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles (1577), which Shakespeare is widely thought to have taken the legend of Cymbeline from, as well as other works, including Stow's Chronicles (1580), Drayton's Poly-Olbion (1612), Thomas Heywood's Troia Britanica (1609) and Spenser used the spelling Inogene in The Faerie Queene (1596). Secondly, Shakespeare actually used the name Innogen in his earlier play Much Ado About Nothing (c.1598). Innogen is a "ghost character" in that she is mentioned in the stage directions, but does not have a role. This particular stage direction is "Innogen his wife" after Leonatus, father of Hero, enters. Interestingly, in Cymebeline, Imogen's husband is Posthumus Leonatus. The link between Leonato/Innogen and Leonatus/Imogen certainly seem as if Shakespeare later reused the names. Furthermore, Simon Forman (1552-1611) left an eye-witness account of seeing Cymbeline performed in which he refers to the female protagonist by the name "Innogen" throughout and does not mention Imogen* A few sceptic scholars, however, point out that Forman did not have the text to hand and only heard the name out loud, which he may have assumed was Innogen given his familiarity with Holinshed's Chronicles.* The name Imogen in the index to Holinshed 1587.
As Valerie Wayne notes in her chapter Innogen or Imogen? in Cymbeline (2017), there are also other earlier examples where Innogen was mistranscribed as Imogen prior to 1623. The index for the 1587 edition of Holinshed's historie of Britaine and England in his Chronicles has an instance of "Imogen the wife of Brute". But as it appears between the entries 'Indigenae' and 'Interteinement', and the index is alphabetised, it is clear that the entry is meant to read "Innogen the wife of Brute."* As Wayne notes, "Minim errors involving the letters m, n, i and u are common in both manuscript and print texts from the period."* An anonymous 15th century translation of Ralph Higden's history, Polychronicon, renders the name Innogen as Ymogen. Some scholars, such a Roger Warren, argue that this is "probably the same misreading error as in Cymbeline,"* though John Pitcher argues that in the centuries between these translation there may have developed several ways of rendering the name Innogen from Latin into English, and Ymogen/Imogen may be the result of philological change. |
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Usage: |
Despite Innogen being the name of a legendary British queen, and used in 16th century literature, it never really became established as a proper given name. Imogen on the other hand, as the form recorded and made famous by Shakespeare's Cymbeline, can be found in some rare use from the 17th century. Vincenzo Bellini used the spelling Imogene for the main female character in his 1827 opera Il pirata. This may have helped establish the name into regular use, as the spelling Imogene was in slightly higher use than Imogen in the early 19th century. Imogen remained rare until it began to see a rise in the 1940s, becoming more common in the 1970s. Registration records for Imogen and Imogene as a first name in England & Wales:
Imogen first entered the top 100 in England and Wales in 1994 at #94. Not only did Imogen fit the sounds of other popular top 100 names such as Jasmine, Jennifer, Gemma/Jemma and Georgina, it also followed a wave of other newly popular Shakespearean names such as Jessica (#3), Olivia (#24) and even Miranda (>#313).
To date, Imogen peaked in #26 with 2045 births in 2010. It has since seen a moderate decline. In 2017, Imogen ranked #39 with 1284 births in England and Wales combined. In England and Wales individually, it ranked #40 and #42 respectively. In Scotland, Imogen didn't enter the top 100 until 2007 when it reached #85 (61 births). In 2016, it reached a peak at #56 (91 births) but by 2018 had moved down to #64 (71 births). |
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Famous Bearers: |
History: * Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976), American photographer. Contemporary: * Imogen Stuart (born 1927), German sculptor.* Imogen Hassall (born 1942), British actress. * Imogen Cooper, CBE (born 1949), British pianist. * Imogen Stubbs (born 1961), British actress. * Imogen Edwards-Jones (born 1968), British author. * Imogen Annesley (born 1970), Australian actress. * Imogen Boorman (born 1971), British actress. * Imogen Bailey (born 1977), Australian model, actress and singer. * Imogen Heap (born 1977), British singer-songwriter. * Imogen Lloyd Webber (born 1977), British writer and theatre manager, daughter of Andrew Lloyd Webber. * Imogen Cairns (born 1989), British gymnast. * Imogen Poots (born 1989), British actress. Literature and Other Media: * Imogen, a character from William Shakespeare's play Cymbeline (c.1611). |
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Variants: |
Imogene, Innogen |
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Pronunciation: |
IM-ə-jən [key] |
| Possible diminutives: |
Immy, Iggy, Idgy, Ginny, Meg |
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Sibling Names: |
Jessica Scarlett Harriet Lucy Georgia Phoebe |
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Name Lists: |
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Thanks to Imogen for requesting this name.
