Nancy

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Attested across 27 languages in the etymology graph.

Nancy is one spelling over 2 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.

• English70%

  Pet form of Anne, now sometimes used as an independent name.

  as a name·Irish first names

  An effeminate man, especially a homosexual.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• Spanish16%

  English diminutive of Nan, a hypocoristic of Anne or Hannah.

  as a name·Diccionario etimológico de nombres propios

The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Nancy, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Linda
• Susan
• Barbara
• Martha
• Janet
• Patricia
• Judy
• Karen
• Shirley
• Sally
• Pamela
• Donna

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Nancy is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name18 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Argentina, United States, Mexico, Peru

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Näncy, Náncy, Nänčy, Nåncy, Nänçy

• Swahili given name3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Kenya, United States, Philippines, Nigeria

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho

  Also written Nancy'

• French given name3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Canada, Belgium

  Also written Nançy

• Polish given name48 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Poland, Czechia, Russia

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Russian

  Also written Nensi, Nansi, Нэнси, Нанси, Ненсі

• Indonesian given name4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Malaysia, Philippines

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay, Malagasy

  Also written 'Nancy

• Greek given name4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Nansi, Νανσι, Nâncy

85 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Nancy is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In French, From the French place name Nancy; later used as a given name.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• Of uncertain origin. From the 18th century it is clearly used as a pet form of pAnn (see Nan)}, but it may originally have been a similar formation deriving from the common medieval given name Annis, a vernacular form of Agnes. Nowadays it is an independent name, and was especially popular in America __ between about 1920 and 1960.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In Swedish, Nancy är ursprungligen en engelsk smekform till Anne (→ Ann). Som många andra engelska förnamn var det populärt i Sverige runt förra sekelskiftet. En känd litterär gestalt är Nancy i Charles Dickens roman Oliver Twist (1838). I Sverige har namnet blivit känt genom Elsie Johanssons (1931–2025) romantrilogi om Nancy (1996–2001).

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Nancy Reaganb. 1921USFirst Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989
• Nancy Kellyb. 1921USAmerican actress (1921–1995)
• Nancy Olsonb. 1928USAmerican actress
• Nancy Pelosib. 1940USAmerican politician (born 1940)
• Nancy Sinatrab. 1940USAmerican singer and actress (born 1940)
• Nancy Meyersb. 1949USAmerican film director, producer and screenwriter
• Nancy Allenb. 1950USAmerican actress
• Nan Goldinb. 1953USnot in their usual nameAmerican photographer (born 1953)
• Nancy Cartwrightb. 1957USAmerican actress
• Nancy J. Currie-Greggb. 1958USAmerican engineer, army officer, astronaut, and professor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Where does the name Nancy come from?

English diminutive of Nan, a hypocoristic of Anne or Hannah. Recorded by Diccionario etimológico de nombres propios.

What are other forms of the name Nancy?

In the etymology graph, Ana, Anna and Anne are forms of the same name in other languages; it is recorded as a short form of Ann and Annice.

Is Nancy a male or female name?

Nancy is a female name. National registers that list it by sex list it as female: United States (Census Bureau, 2020), Ecuador (INEC, 2024), France (INSEE, 2024) and Netherlands (Meertens NVB), among others.

How common is the name Nancy?

In the United States, the national register counted 772,570 people named Nancy in 2020, about 1 in 431 residents.

How common is Nancy compared with other names?

In the United States, Nancy is the 51st most common given name of 2,815,431 given names recorded there.

What does the name Nancy mean?

In English, Pet form of Anne, now sometimes used as an independent name.

In which country does Nancy have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 773 thousand people named Nancy, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled nancy.

How do you pronounce Nancy?

A machine transcription gives /nænsi/ (IPA) for English.