How common is the name Nancy?

772,570 people in the United States have the first name Nancy, about 1 in 391. It ranks #40 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NANCY

#40

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
772,570
About
1 in 391
This common or more
18.5%
Who bears it

Of the 772,570 people named Nancy, 81.1% reported their origin as White, 12.2% as Hispanic or Latino and 2.7% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nancy peaked in 1947, when 32,502 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1947
Births that year
32,502
In 2025*
265 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 1,007,393 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Nancy by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #18. The largest share of babies named Nancy, 49.5%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#1084,799
1890s#1365,346
1900s#1555,738
1910s#17617,337
1920s#10743,958
1930s#21143,046
1940s#18252,646
1950s#22287,352
1960s#56143,135
1970s#14842,061
1980s#23625,753
1990s#33019,633
2000s#58910,984
2010s#1,3633,928
2020s#1,7751,677
Before 19011.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–275.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4528.6%
Baby boom 1946–6449.5%
Generation X 1965–809.5%
Millennials 1981–963.8%
Generation Z 1997–121.7%
2013 and later0.4%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Nancy is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nancy has been most common in Massachusetts (1.6×), Vermont (1.6×), and Rhode Island (1.6×), and least common in Nevada (0.35×).

987,517 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Nancy

#38 Timothy · 802,946#39 Sandra · 780,828#41 Eric · 767,096#42 Michelle · 757,098

Spelled almost the same

6 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Nancy, most common first.

#3,152 Nanci · 6,910#13,462 Nance · 896#18,788 Nancye · 570#19,256 Nancey · 552#34,922 Nanc · 232#45,674 Nansy · 148

Also a last name

As a last name, Nancy ranks #41,707 of 156,621, with 562 people. See Nancy as a last name

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