| Joan | Nancy | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | God is gracious | grace, favour |
| Origin | english | english |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | JOHN | NAN-see |
| Syllables | 1 | 2 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1932 (21,044) | 1947 (32,445) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Vintage | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Joan | Nancy |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,031 | 1,677 |
| 2010s | 941 | 3,928 |
| 2000s | 1,003 | 10,959 |
| 1990s | 1,858 | 19,495 |
| 1980s | 3,300 | 25,493 |
| 1970s | 6,480 | 41,850 |
| 1960s | 36,676 | 142,724 |
| 1950s | 85,179 | 286,812 |
| 1940s | 117,708 | 252,061 |
| 1930s | 173,439 | 142,488 |
| 1920s | 45,351 | 43,807 |
| 1910s | 7,021 | 17,283 |
| 1900s | 863 | 5,733 |
| 1890s | 267 | 5,346 |
| 1880s | 121 | 4,792 |
A medieval English feminine of John, from Old French Johanne, ultimately from Hebrew 'Yochanan' ('Yahweh is gracious'). Like Jane, it descends from John rather than from Hannah.
Originally a medieval diminutive of Ann (from a misdivision of 'mine Ann' into 'my Nan'), carrying Ann's meaning of grace or favour from Hebrew Hannah. An older alternative traces it to Agnes ('pure'), so the grace meaning is the usual but not sole account.
Joan and Nancy are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Joan means God is gracious (english origin), while Nancy means grace, favour (english origin).
In US records, Joan first appears in 0 and Nancy in 0, so Joan has the longer recorded history.