Nancy (given name)

Nancy

Pronunciation	/ˈnænsi/
Gender	Female
Origin
Word/name	Hebrew, French
Meaning	Grace
Region of origin	Europe
Other names
Related names	Anne
Popularity	see popular names

Nancy is a girl's name of Hebrew, French origin. The name Nancy was originally a diminutive form of Anne or Ann. Nancy originated as a contraction of “mine Ancy,” with Ancy being a nickname for Annis, a Medieval English variation of Agnes. In the 18th century it began being used in its own right, as well as a nickname for Ann. Related names include Nan, Nance, Nanette, Nanny, and Nanou. A name that has always been in the Top 1000, Nancy was in the Top 20 from 1931 to 1962, in the Top 10 for several of those years; in 1940, Nancy was given to about 20,000 baby girls. However, Nancy's star appears to be waning, as it has lost popularity in recent years. 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 may refer to:

People

• Nancy Ajram (born 1983), Lebanese singer
• Nancy Alexiadi, Greek singer
• Nancy Allen (actress) (born 1950), American actress
• Nancy Allen (harpist) (born 1954), American harpist
• Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor (1879–1954), first woman to sit in British Parliament
• Nancy Balfour (1911–1997), English arts administrator and journalist
• Nancy Lee Bass (1917–2013), American philanthropist
• Nancy Benoit (1964–2007), American professional wrestling manager
• Nancy Binay (born 1973), Filipina politician
• Nancy Boyd-Franklin (born 1950), American psychologist and writer
• Nancy Carell (born 1966), American comedian and actress
• Nancy Carrillo (born 1986), Cuban volleyball player
• Nancy Carroll (1903–1965), American actress
• Nancy Cartwright (born 1957), American actress
• Nancy Dell'Olio (born 1961), Italian lawyer
• Nancy Edberg (1832–1892), Swedish swimmer
• Nancy Everhard (born 1957), American actress
• Nancy Fish (1850–1927), English socialite
• Nancy Garrido, wife of sex offender and kidnapper Phillip Garrido
• Nancy Goldsmith (born 1966), Israeli Olympic gymnast
• Nancy Gordon, American economist and statistician
• Nancy Grace (born 1959), American prosecutor & TV personality
• Nancy Greene (born 1943), Canadian alpine skier
• Nancy Guillén (born 1976), Salvadoran hammer thrower
• Nancy Haigwood, American scientist
• Nancy Hayfield, American author, editor, and publisher
• Nancy Hower (born 1966), American actress, director, screenwriter and producer
• Nancy Hubbard (born 1963), American author and professor of business and management
• Nancy Jowel McDonie (born 2000), singer in K-Pop band Momoland, performs under the name Nancy
• Nancy Jobson (1880–1964), Australian teacher and headmistress
• Nancy Kerrigan (born 1969), American figure skater
• Nancy Kwan (born 1939), Hong Kong American actress
• Nancy Ledins (1932–2017), American Catholic priest and transgender woman
• Nancy Leveson, American expert in system and software safety
• Nancy Lieberman (born 1958), American WNBA Hall of Fame basketball player, general manager, and coach, Olympic silver medal
• Nancy Lublin (born 1971), American businesswoman
• Nancy Luce (1814–1890), American folk artist and poet
• Nancy Ludington (born 1939), American pair skater
• Nancy Lusk, American politician
• Nancy Lynn (1956–2006), American entrepreneur, pilot, and public speaker
• Nancy Mace (born 1977), American politician
• Nancy Mann, American statistician
• Nancy Marchand (1928–2000), American actress
• Nancy Marcus (1950-2018), American biologist and college administrator
• Nancy Mowll Mathews (born 1947), Czech-American art historian, curator, and author
• Nancy McArthur, American children's author
• Nancy McCredie (born 1945), Canadian track and field athlete
• Nancy McKeon (born 1966), American actress
• Nancy McLeón (born 1971), Cuban track and field athlete
• Nancy Melcher (1916–2015), American lingerie designer
• Nancy Metcalf (born 1978), American volleyball player
• Nancy Mitford (1904–1973), English novelist and biographer
• Nancy Neudauer, American mathematician
• Nancy Oakes, American chef
• Nancy O'Dell (born 1966), American television host and entertainment journalist
• Nancy Osbaldeston (born 1989), English ballet dancer
• Nancy Pelosi (born 1940), 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• Nancy Reagan (1921–2016), former First Lady of the United States
• Nancy Richler (1957–2018), Canadian novelist
• Nancy L. Segal (born 1951), American evolutionary psychologist and behavioral geneticist
• Nancy Sinatra (born 1940), American singer and actress
• Nancy Spungen (1958–1978), American ex-girlfriend of Sid Vicious and murder victim
• Nancy Sullivan
• Nancy Vallecilla (born 1957), Ecuadorian athlete
• Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) (1937–2018), American jazz singer
• Nancy Wilson (rock musician) (born 1954), American musician and member of the band Heart
• Nancy Wilson (religious leader) (born 1950), current Moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches
• Nancy Wilson (journalist), Canadian television journalist
• Nancy Wu (born 1981), Hong Kong actress
• Nancy VanderMeer, American businesswoman and politician
• Nancy Yi Fan (born 1993), Chinese-American author

Fictional characters

• Nancy (Oliver Twist), a character from Oliver Twist
• Nancy (comic strip), created by Ernie Bushmiller
• Nancy Adams, a character from the 2016 film The Shallows
• Nancy Blackett, a character from Swallows and Amazons series of books by Arthur Ransome
• Nancy Botwin, the female lead on the TV series Weeds
• Nancy Callahan, a character from Sin City
• Nancy Drew, the heroine detective of the mystery series of the same name
• Nancy Gribble, a character from King of the Hill, wife of Dale Gribble
• Nancy Partridge, a character from Sherlock Holmes in Washington
• Nancy Hayton, a regular character in Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks
• Nancy Thompson (A Nightmare on Elm Street), the heroine from two of the A Nightmare on Elm Street films
• Nancy Wilmot, a schoolgirl and later mistress in Elinor Brent-Dyer's Chalet School series
• Nancy, a radio dispatcher who assigns missions on the Chase H.Q. series of video games
• Nancy Wesley, a character on soap opera Days of Our Lives
• Nancy Leathers, a fictional character in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, the grandmother of Ken Barlow and the mother of Ida Barlow
• Nancy Knapp, a fictional character and chapter title in Spoon River Anthology
• Nancy Wheeler, a character from Stranger Things