NameRealm
Fanny

Fanny: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“free one”
Origin
English
Say it
FAN-ee · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls

Diminutive of Frances in English, ultimately from Latin Franciscus. It has also been used for Stephanie in French contexts, but the English Frances origin is the usual one for this spelling.

English namesFrench namesVintage namesShort names

How popular is Fanny?

20247.5 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Fanny in 202425

Peak year1885

Total US babies since 18809,635

Fanny is steady now but far below its 1885 peak.

Names like Fanny

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Oliviaolive tree · English
  • Evelyndesired; little bird · English
  • Harperharp player · English
  • Violetviolet flower · English
  • Hazelhazel tree · English
  • Ellieshort form of names ending in -el or -ella · English
  • Lilylily flower · English
  • Scarlettscarlet, bright red · English

Fanny questions

What does the name Fanny mean?

Fanny means "free one". It comes from English. Diminutive of Frances in English, ultimately from Latin Franciscus. It has also been used for Stephanie in French contexts, but the English Frances origin is the usual one for this spelling.

Is Fanny a boy or girl name?

Fanny is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Fanny?

25 US babies were named Fanny in 2024. Its peak year was 1885.

How do you pronounce Fanny?

Fanny is usually pronounced FAN-ee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.