# Nancy (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/nancy/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈnænsi/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Nance, Nan |
| Variant spellings | Nancey |
| US babies named this | 1,007,393 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,945 / 1,004,448 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 13,211, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Medieval diminutive of Ann and Agnes. Compare Betsy, Patsy.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 541 | 537 |
| 2012 | 437 | 654 |
| 2013 | 412 | 688 |
| 2014 | 371 | 755 |
| 2015 | 345 | 814 |
| 2016 | 310 | 900 |
| 2017 | 314 | 874 |
| 2018 | 326 | 834 |
| 2019 | 298 | 895 |
| 2020 | 295 | 897 |
| 2021 | 279 | 946 |
| 2022 | 267 | 991 |
| 2023 | 281 | 942 |
| 2024 | 290 | 916 |
| 2025 | 265 | 967 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 19 | 2,923 |
| 1989 | 38 | 1,945 |
| 1990 | 28 | 2,472 |
| 1991 | 29 | 2,447 |
| 1992 | 22 | 3,079 |
| 1993 | 14 | 4,384 |
| 1994 | 14 | 4,461 |
| 1995 | 12 | 5,019 |
| 1997 | 6 | 8,931 |
| 1998 | 5 | 10,791 |
| 1999 | 8 | 7,649 |
| 2000 | 6 | 9,928 |
| 2001 | 8 | 8,076 |
| 2003 | 6 | 10,475 |
| 2004 | 5 | 12,630 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 414 | 135 |
| 2012 | 456 | 124 |
| 2013 | 487 | 111 |
| 2014 | 615 | 90 |
| 2015 | 817 | 71 |
| 2016 | 842 | 70 |
| 2017 | 861 | 67 |
| 2018 | 819 | 64 |
| 2019 | 816 | 64 |
| 2020 | 777 | 66 |
| 2021 | 797 | 65 |
| 2022 | 759 | 67 |
| 2023 | 658 | 70 |
| 2024 | 578 | 81 |
| 2025 | 604 | 78 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: نَانْسِي
- Chinese: 南希, 南茜
- French: Nancy
- Greek: Νάνσι
- Japanese: ナンシー
- Korean: 낸시
- Russian: Нэ́нси
- Welsh: Nansi

## People named Nancy

- Nancy Pelosi, American politician (born 1940)
- Nancy Reagan, First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989
- Nancy Sinatra, American singer and actress (born 1940)
- Nancy Cartwright, American actress
- Nancy Mitford, British writer
- Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, first female Member of Parliament to take her seat (1879-1964)
- Nancy Allen, American actress
- Nancy Roman, American astronomer and principal in the Hubble Space Telescope project (1925-2018)
- Nancy Fraser, American philosopher
- Nancy Olson, American actress
- Nancy Kelly, American actress (1921–1995)
- Nancy Meyers, American film director, producer and screenwriter

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.