At a Glance: Name: Nan – Meaning: grace, favor (inherited from Ann/Hannah); as a nickname, just a rhyming pet form – Origin: English pet form of Ann/Nancy (ultimately Hebrew, via Hannah) – Gender: Girl – Pronunciation: NAN
Nan is an English pet form of Ann/Nancy (ultimately Hebrew, via Hannah) girl's name meaning “grace, favor (inherited from Ann/Hannah); as a nickname, just a rhyming pet form”. It appears in 2 of our baby name lists.
Meaning & Origin of Nan
Meaning: Grace, favor (inherited from Ann/Hannah); as a nickname, just a rhyming pet form.
Origin: English pet form of Ann/Nancy (ultimately Hebrew, via Hannah).
A common claim: Said to mean 'gracious' as an Old English short form of Anne Actually: Nan isn't itself an Old English word — it's a rhyming pet-form of Ann/Nancy; the 'grace/favor' meaning it carries comes from Ann's Hebrew root (Hannah), not from an independent Old English source.
Source: Wiktionary.
How to Pronounce Nan
Phonetic: NAN IPA: /næn/
Popularity of Nan
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration birth-name data, 1880–2022.
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