Daily AncestorNancy
Nancy was a nickname for Ann, Anna or Agnes in American records of the 1700s and 1800s.
Nancy started as a pet form of Annis, a medieval English form of Agnes, and later became a pet form of Ann. By the 1700s it was also used as a separate name, which makes Nancy and Ann easy to mistake for two women.
Many records were made with the name a person went by, so look for Nancy as well as Ann in indexes. Check other details before treating them as one woman. Because Nancy served for more than one name, see which full name the same woman carries in other records.
As seen in a recordGravestone, 1850; her husband's will calls her Ann
Nancy, wife of Asa Quarrier, died April 3, 1850, aged 70 years
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Nancy." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/nicknames/nancy. Last checked 2026-10-15.