Given name & surname
Nance
“a woman graced with God's favor”
In English use, Nance is a diminutive of Nancy. In English use, Nancy carries the interpretation “a woman graced with God's favor.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In English use, Nance is a diminutive of Nancy. In English use, Nancy carries the interpretation “a woman graced with God's favor.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Nance is a diminutive of Nancy. Nancy comes from French, and ultimately from Old High German.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In English usage, Nance is a diminutive of Nancy.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1913. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nance through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 771
- 10 boys · 761 girls
- Most popular year
- 1947
- 32 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 1973. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 32 in 1947. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 896 as a first name in 2020; 22,809 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Nance’s family of names
In English usage, Nance is a diminutive of Nancy. In English usage, Nance has a conventional equivalent in the Russian form Нанс. Nance has a related form in Nancy.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Nance
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Nance, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Nanette
“a woman graced with God's favor”
>99% girls
Annelle
>99% girls
Nona
“the ninth-born child”
>99% girls
Kaye
“filled with happiness; rejoicing”
>99% girls
Sue
“resembling a graceful white lily” · “having an excellent, long life”
>99% girls
Francie
“woman from France; one who is free”
>99% girls
Jonnie
“God is gracious”
12% boys · 88% girls
Noreen
“light”
>99% girls