Given name & surname
Nancy
“a woman graced with God's favor”·“one who is pure; chaste”
In English use, Nancy is a diminutive of Agnes. One Greek interpretation is “one who is pure; chaste.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In English use, Nancy carries the interpretation “a woman graced with God's favor.” In English use, Nancy is a diminutive of Agnes. One Greek interpretation is “one who is pure; chaste.”
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Where it comes from
A possible origin is English, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
Nancy is used as a form of Ann.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nancy through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,007,393
- 2,945 boys · 1,004,448 girls
- Most popular year
- 1947
- 32,502 babies
- 2025
- 265
- #967 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −10%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 265 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 967 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 10.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 32,445 in 1947. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (34). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 772,570 as a first name in 2020; 562 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.
Nancy’s family of names
In English usage, Nancy is a diminutive of Ann. Nancy has a related form in Nanci. Nancy is a form of Ann.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Nancy has relatives in 14 languages. Lines run from its English roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 29
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Agnesfull form · English
- Annfull form · English
- Nancyelikely variant
- Nanceyvariant · English
- Nandiminutive · English
- Nancediminutive · English
- Ninvariant
- Nannyvariant
Show 21 moreShow fewer
- Nannievariant
- Nannvariant
- Nancievariant
- Nancivariant
- Nanceevariant
- Nnancylikely variant
- Nanncielikely variant
- Nénottediminutive · nrf
- Nénédiminutive · nrf
- Nanseavariant
- Nanceavariant
- Ninockhavariant
- Ninacskavariant
- Nanseyvariant
- Nanseevariant
- Nanncyvariant
- Nannceyvariant
- Nanicevariant
- Nancsivariant
- Nainsivariant
- Nainseyvariant
Across languages 22
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Nancy
- Nancy PelosiAmerican politician (born 1940)
- Nancy ReaganFirst Lady of the United States from 1981 to 19891921–2016
- Nancy AjramLebanese singer and actressborn 1983
- Nancy SinatraAmerican singer and actress (born 1940)
- Nancy CartwrightAmerican actressborn 1957
- Nancy WakeNew Zealander and Australian war heroine1912–2011
- Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astorfirst female Member of Parliament to take her seat (1879-1964)
- Nancy MitfordBritish writer1904–1973
- Nancy AllenAmerican actressborn 1950
Characters named Nancy: Nancy Drew (a juvenile mystery series created by the Stratemeyer Syndicate publisher under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene), Nancy Wheeler (Netflix series Stranger Things), Nancy Thompson (the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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