Nan

Where Nan comes from

The dictionaries list Nan as a given name — a diminutive of the female given name Ann and Nancy — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #421 among girls — 16 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1883
    Peak, #336
    28 babies named Nan — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1918
    Nan Grey born
    American actress
  4. 1953
    Nan Goldin born
    American photographer
  5. 1975
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #4,370.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the female given name Ann and Nancy.
Namesakes
  • Nan Goldin · American photographer, born 1953
  • Nan Grey · American actress, 1918–1993
  • Nan Martin · American actress, 1927–2010
  • Nan Hayworth · American politician, born 1959
  • Nan Leslie · American actress, 1926–2000

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.