Humanverse

Nancey vs Nannie

American parents have registered 25,580 Nannies since 1880, against 627 Nanceys. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Nancey against Nannie, 1880 to 2025 0 200 400 600 800 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Nancey Nannie

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 106 years in which either name was published, Nannie for 103 years and Nancey for 3 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Nancey Nannie
Total US births 62725,580
Most in one year 30655
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 4002,400
Median age today 7180
Peak year 19531920
Best rank 1,834th girls258th girls
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 19141880
Girls / boys 627 / 025,560 / 20

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Nannies alive today are over 80; half the Nanceys are over 71. That is 9 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Nancey and Nannie.