Nancee
A diminutive form of the feminine name Nancy, derived from Anne, meaning gracious or merciful.
Name Census estimates that about 823 living Americans carry the first name Nancee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nancee today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nancee births was 1961 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nancee. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Nancee with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Nancee is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Nancees were born before 1967.
People living today
823
~ 1 in 416,469 Americans
Peak year
1961
67 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
1983 SSA rank
#11,413
Tracked since 1925
Census
Nancee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,212 people with the first name Nancee, which placed it at #10,823 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,823
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,212 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nancee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nancee is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Black (2.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Nancee described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Nancee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.8% · 1,101
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 37
- Black or African American2.2% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 23
- Two or more races1.7% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Popularity
Nancee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nancee from the 1920s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 460 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nancee by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Nancee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nancees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Illinois, Missouri, Michigan recorded the most babies named Nancee, while Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nancee
The name Nancee is an English variant of the French name Nancy, which itself is a feminine form of the male name Nanno. The name Nanno has its origins in the Late Latin name Nanno, which is a hypocoristic form of the name Ferdinandus, meaning "adventurous wanderer" or "daring traveler." The Late Latin name Nanno is believed to have emerged during the Medieval period.
The name Nancy gained popularity in France during the Middle Ages and was later adopted in England. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nancy dates back to the 15th century, when it appeared in the records of the English county of Hertfordshire.
While the name Nancy has been relatively common throughout history, the variant spelling Nancee is less common. However, there are a few notable individuals who have borne this name:
1. Nancee Jaffe (1936-2018), an American actress and singer best known for her roles in various television series and films during the 1960s and 1970s.
2. Nancee Borgnine (born 1942), an American former film and television actress, and the daughter of actor Ernest Borgnine.
3. Nancee Celini (born 1969), an American actress and former model, who has appeared in various television shows and films.
4. Nancee Rostad (born 1955), an American author and journalist known for her work on topics related to health and wellness.
5. Nancee Meeker (born 1942), an American actress and model who appeared in several films and television shows during the 1960s and 1970s.
While the name Nancee has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, its French roots and variants have enjoyed enduring popularity, particularly in Western cultures. The name's associations with adventurousness and daring have likely contributed to its charm and appeal over the centuries.
People
Nancee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nancee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nancee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nancee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 823 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nancee going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 416,469 US residents.
Is Nancee a common name?
We classify Nancee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,358 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nancee most popular?
The single biggest year for Nancee was 1961, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nancee is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nancee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,212 people with the name Nancee, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,823 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Nancee in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Nancee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nancee appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,215 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Nancee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nancee is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Black (2.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Nancee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nancee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.8% (1,101 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Nancee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nancee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nancee in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Nancee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nancee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Nancee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Nancee?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.