| Nancy | Joan | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | grace, favour | God is gracious |
| Origin | english | english |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | NAN-see | JOHN |
| Syllables | 2 | 1 |
| First appeared | 0 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1947 (32,445) | 1932 (21,044) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Trend | Vintage | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Nancy | Joan |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,677 | 1,031 |
| 2010s | 3,928 | 941 |
| 2000s | 10,959 | 1,003 |
| 1990s | 19,495 | 1,858 |
| 1980s | 25,493 | 3,300 |
| 1970s | 41,850 | 6,480 |
| 1960s | 142,724 | 36,676 |
| 1950s | 286,812 | 85,179 |
| 1940s | 252,061 | 117,708 |
| 1930s | 142,488 | 173,439 |
| 1920s | 43,807 | 45,351 |
| 1910s | 17,283 | 7,021 |
| 1900s | 5,733 | 863 |
| 1890s | 5,346 | 267 |
| 1880s | 4,792 | 121 |
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.
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.
Nancy and Joan are given to a similar number of US babies today.
Nancy means grace, favour (english origin), while Joan means God is gracious (english origin).
In US records, Nancy first appears in 0 and Joan in 0, so Nancy has the longer recorded history.