| Nancy | Dorothy | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | grace, favour | gift of God |
| Origin | english | english |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | NAN-see | DOR-ə-thee |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 0 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 1947 (32,445) | 1924 (39,996) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 743 |
| Trend | Vintage | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Nancy | Dorothy |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,677 | 3,984 |
| 2010s | 3,928 | 3,958 |
| 2000s | 10,959 | 2,717 |
| 1990s | 19,495 | 4,211 |
| 1980s | 25,493 | 7,143 |
| 1970s | 41,850 | 11,664 |
| 1960s | 142,724 | 33,011 |
| 1950s | 286,812 | 74,475 |
| 1940s | 252,061 | 132,257 |
| 1930s | 142,488 | 210,415 |
| 1920s | 43,807 | 368,875 |
| 1910s | 17,283 | 207,475 |
| 1900s | 5,733 | 39,112 |
| 1890s | 5,346 | 10,846 |
| 1880s | 4,792 | 2,088 |
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.
English form of Dorothea, from Greek doron 'gift' + theos 'God', meaning 'gift of God'. Same elements as Theodore reversed.
Dorothy is more popular than Nancy today: about 743 US babies were given the name Dorothy in 2025, compared with 0 named Nancy.
Nancy means grace, favour (english origin), while Dorothy means gift of God (english origin).
In US records, Nancy first appears in 0 and Dorothy in 1880, so Nancy has the longer recorded history.