Nancy

See also: nancy

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnænsi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  • (æ-raising) IPA^(key): [ˈnɛənsi]
• Rhymes: -ænsi

Etymology 1

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

Proper noun

Nancy (plural Nancys or Nancies)

1. A female given name.
   • 1792, Robert Burns, Ae Fond Kiss:

     I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
     Naething could resist my Nancy:
     But to see her was to love her;
     Love but her, and love forever.

   • 1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 7, in Pollyanna‎^[1], L.C. Page, →OCLC:

     "And they've got lovely names, too. You'll like their names," sighed Nancy. "They're 'Algernon' and 'Florabelle' and 'Estelle'. I - I just hate Nancy!" "Oh, Nancy, what a dreadful thing to say! Why?" "Because it isn't pretty like the others. You see, I was the first baby, and mother hadn't begun ter read so many stories with the pretty names in them, then."

   • 2003, Ira Pohl, “Nested Classes”, in C# by Dissection: The Essentials of C# Programming, Boston, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, →ISBN, page 249:

     There are many Nancies and Jerries in the world. They get told apart by a further name, such as Nancy Lovelace, or Jerry Turing.

   • 2020 June 26, Anna Bahney, “These people bought homes without ever stepping inside”, in CNN Business‎^[2], archived from the original on 9 December 2021:

     Their agent, Nancy Phander, sent along a virutal^[sic] 3D tour and a video tour and they put in an offer based on what they saw.

   • 2024 June 20, Wayne Parry, “U.S. bans on gasoline-powered leaf blowers grow, as does blowback from landscaping industry”, in AP News‎^[3], archived from the original on 19 August 2024:

     Maplewood, New Jersey Mayor Nancy Adams said her community banned gas-powered blowers in January 2023.

   • 2025 November 18, Brandon Drenon, “The only 'no' vote on releasing Epstein files”, in BBC‎^[4], archived from the original on 26 November 2025:

     Prior to the House passing the legislation, only four Republicans had joined all Democrats in signing a petition to force a vote - Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Derived terms

• nance, Nance
• nancyboy
• Nancy Dawson
• nonce
• nosy Nancy

Translations

female given name

• Arabic: نَانْسِي (ar) f (nānsī)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 南希 (zh) (Nánxī), 南茜 (Nánxī)

• French: Nancy (fr) f
• Greek: Νάνσι (el) (Nánsi) (transliteration from English)
• Japanese: ナンシー (Nanshī)
• Korean: 낸시 (Naensi)
• Marathi: नॅन्सी (nĕnsī)
• Russian: Нэ́нси (ru) f (Nɛ́nsi)
• Welsh: Nansi

Noun

Nancy (plural Nancies or Nancys)

1. Alternative letter-case form of nancy.
   • 1919 May 8, “The Waiting Airmen”, in The New York Times‎^[5], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 August 2025:

     HAWKER, the Australian, who is to handle the Sopwith plane, predicts that any fast steamer out of New York will have no difficulty in beating the “Nancies” of the United States Navy.

   • 1998 April 2, John Lyttle, “By Zeus, are you ready for the golden boy - Ganymede Redux?”, in The Independent‎^[6], London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 August 2025:

     Funny peculiar: Ganymede promising latitude, if not liberation. The Boy Done Good. For Nancies. He might, however, mean something vastly different for Normals, who are quietly - one could even say covertly - being invited to role model their increasing redundant selves on that darling petal Leonardo DeCaprio.^[sic]

   • 2008 January 20, Beth Willis, “Ashes to Ashes: Life after Mars”, in The Daily Telegraph‎^[7], London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 March 2010:

     In Ashes to Ashes, DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), the Neanderthal copper from 1973, has moved to London from Manchester to show the 'southern Nancys' a thing or two about policing.

   • 2025, S.E. Case, chapter 1, in Rigsby WI‎^[8], volume 1: Foothold, →ISBN, retrieved 28 August 2025, page 89:

     Get up you sad Nancies!

Etymology 2

From French Nancy, from Medieval Latin Nanciacum, from Old High German Nanzig.

Proper noun

Nancy

1. A city in Meurthe-et-Moselle department, Grand Est, north-eastern France.

Translations

city in northeastern France

• Bulgarian: Нанси́ (Nansí)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 南錫 / 南锡 (zh) (Nánxī)

• French: Nancy (fr) m
• German: Nanzig (de) n
• Greek: Νανσί (el) f (Nansí)
• Marathi: नांसी (nāusī)
• Occitan: Nancí
• Russian: Нанси́ (ru) m (Nansí)

Anagrams

• Canny, canny

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English Nancy.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: Nan‧cy
• IPA^(key): /ˈnansi/ [ˈn̪an̪.s̪ɪ]

Proper noun

Nancy

1. a female given name from English [in turn from Ancient Greek]

French

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English Nancy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nan.si/

Proper noun

Nancy f

1. a female given name from English

Etymology 2

From the medieval name, Medieval Latin Nanciacum, from Old High German Nanzig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɑ̃.si/

Proper noun

Nancy m

1. Nancy (a city, the prefecture of Meurthe-et-Moselle department, Grand Est, France)

Derived terms

• nancéien
• Nancéien, Nancéienne

Norman

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

Nancy f

1. a female given name

Derived terms

• Néné, Nénai
• Nénotte

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English Nancy.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈnansi/ [ˈn̪an̪.sɪ]
• Rhymes: -ansi
• Syllabification: Nan‧cy

Proper noun

Nancy (Baybayin spelling ᜈᜈ᜔ᜐᜒ)

1. a female given name from English