Nancy
Top 1000
About Nancy
To some, Nancy is a sweet, sparkly, vintage choice with plenty of energy and style. For it strays too much into '"old-lady" territory to be cool again yet. It's out of fashion in France, New Zealand, and Canada; it lingers towards to bottom of the US charts. In the UK however, Nancy has been a Top 100 name for nearly a decade where it fits right in with Evie, Mabel, and Pippa.
Nancy originated as a contraction of "mine Ancy", with Ancy being a nickname for name Annis, a Medieval English variant of Agnes. Later, in the 18th century, it began to be used as a nickname for Ann too, but also as a name within its own right. This could give it the possibly meanings of "my pure and holy one" or "my grace".
It is also a French place name, though in this case, the name is likely derived from Nanciao, a Ghaulish personal name, which came from nanto, meaning "river or valley" in Proto-Celtic.
As a name in its own right, it has always been in the US Top 1000, peaking between 1931 and 1962 when it remained in the Top 20. In 1940 alone, Nancy was given to about 20,000 baby girls. In recent years, however it has been on a downward trend, and as of 2023, it was given to 280 girls, holding on to just a small fraction of the sway in held in the mid-century.
Today, it might feel like a distinctly British choice then, nickname-y and old-fashioned, but pleasing to say and easy to spell. It also has a couple of interesting variations itself, such as Nan, Nance, Nanette, Nanny, Nansi, and Nanou.
Nancy is a major character in Oliver Twist and is fondly remembered by some as Nancy Drew, girl detective, while contemporary kids are enjoying the Fancy Nancy series. Frank Sinatra paid tribute to his daughter with the song "Nancy with the Laughing Face." Nancy also has political ties, via the mother of Abraham Lincoln, the wife of Ronald Reagan (born Anne), and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
As of October 2026, Nancy ranked #967 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #6 in 1950, Nameberry popularity #219.
Editor's take: The name Nancy is a girl's name of Hebrew, French, English origin meaning "grace or pure".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #755 | 371 | 207.7 |
| 2015 | #813 | 345 | 193.3 |
| 2016 | #900 | 310 | 174.9 |
| 2017 | #872 | 314 | 181.9 |
| 2018 | #833 | 326 | 191.6 |
| 2019 | #895 | 298 | 177.6 |
| 2020 | #897 | 295 | 182.5 |
| 2021 | #946 | 279 | 170 |
| 2022 | #993 | 266 | 162.2 |
| 2023 | #942 | 281 | 175.1 |
| 2024 | #921 | 288 | 177.8 |
| 2025 | #967 | 265 | 164.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Nancy.
- Virginia
- Sally
- Wendy
- Gloria
- Jean
- Martha
- Joan
- Catharine
- Susanna
- Susannah
- Judith
- Dora
- Georgienne
- Lois
- Shoshannah
- Susan
- Georgina
- Helen
- Peggy
- Mary
Nancy on lists
Famous Nancys
- Nancy Hanks Lincoln
mother of Abraham Lincoln
- Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne Frances Robbins)
U.S. First Lady as wife of President Ronald Reagan
- Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi
former U.S. Speaker of the House
- Nancy Lamoureaux Wilson
American lead singer of band Heart
- Nancy Sandra Sinatra
American singer; daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra
- Nancy Jean Cartwright
American voice actress
- Nancy Ann Kerrigan
American Olympic figure skating champ
- Nancy Nabil Ajram
Lebanese pop singer
- Nancy Ann Grace
American legal commentator and prosecutor
- Nancy Mitford
English novelist
- Nancy Justine McKeon
American actress
- Nancy Wake
New Zealand agent in World War II
- Nancy Laura Spungen
girlfriend of the Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious
- Anna Selina "Nancy" Storace
English soprano
- Nancy Jane Kulp
American character actress
- Nancy Ann Travis
American actress
- Nancy Cameron
daughter of British Prime Minister, David Cameron
- Nancy Leigh "Naleigh" Kelly (adopted 2009)
daughter of American actress Katherine Heigl
- Nancy Jewel McDonie
American, Korean singer of girl group Momoland
- Nancy "Ka Shen" Kwan
Chinese,American actress
- Nancy Ellen Guthrie (nee Long)
mother of American news anchor Savannah Guthrie and subject of internationally-known 2026 missing persons case
Nancy in pop culture
- Nancy Botwin
main character on TV's "Weeds"
- Nancy Drew
mystery series created by Carolyn Keene and its main character
- Nancy
character in Dickens' "Oliver Twist"
- Nancy
character in Archie & Friends comics
- Nancy Callahan
character in novel/film "Sin City"
- Nancy
character on "Kimberly"
- Nancy Nichols
character on TV's "Doc"
- Nancy Bobofit
character in the 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' series
- Nancy Ingeldew
character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
- Nancy Downs
character in movie "The Craft"
- Nancy Landgraab
character in "The Sims" (3&4) computer games
- Nancy Wheeler
character on TV's "Stranger Things"
- Nancy Weston
character on TV's "Thirtysomething"
- Miss Nancy
main character in novelette "The Sitter's Hand" by author Tina Tirrell
- "Nancy Mulligan
" song by Ed Sheeran
- "Fancy Nancy
" children's book and TV series
- "For the Love of Nancy
" 1994 made,for,TV movie
- "Sid and Nancy
" 1986 British biopic about Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen
- Nancy Blackett
main character in the "Swallows and Amazons" series
- Nancy
comic strip character
- Nancy Shawcross
character in "A God in Ruins" by Kate Atkinson
- Nancy Goldfinch
character in the webcomic "Riverside Extras" by Miri Chamberlain
- Nancy Landgraab
character in the Sims franchise
Variations & nicknames
- NancsiHungarian
- NanigBreton
- NaniGreek
- NanouFrench
- NannetteFrench
- NanineFrench
- NancsieHungarian
- NainsíIrish Gaelic
- NanéeArmenian