Agía

Agía is the feminine form of the Greek adjective meaning “holy.” In modern Greek, αγία is used as a title before the names of female saints and in the names of sacred entities or places, such as Αγία Παρασκευή (Agía Paraskeví, Saint Paraskevi) or Αγία Σοφία (Agía Sofía, “Holy Wisdom”). The acute accent over the ι indicates where the stress falls in Greek pronunciation.

The term appears widely in Orthodox Christian contexts and in Greek-language toponyms. In English-language texts, Αγία is commonly transliterated as Hagia or Hagía, especially in historical names like Hagia Sophia, the famous Byzantine church in Istanbul. In Cyprus and other contexts, the form Ayia (or Ayía) is common, as in Ayia Napa or Ayia Triada. These variations reflect different transliteration conventions but retain the same underlying meaning of “holy” or “saintly” when attached to a feminine name or concept.

In summary, agía functions as a religious and cultural marker in Greek, indicating sanctity or saintliness, and it appears in a wide range of proper names for churches, saints, and places across Greek-speaking regions and in transplantations of Greek culture around the world.