Agnes? (Nn Nancy?)

[Izzyathome]

I recently met a really adorable blonde curly two year old girl called Agnes and it has really turned me on to the name. It's my grandma's name so it would have a nice meaning for us. She was always known as Nancy and we already have Nancy on our list - but suddenly the full name of Agnes feels fresher.

Do you think Agnes is nice on its own? Would you have Agnes nn. Nancy? Or just Nancy? Or neither?

I'd say Nessie is the Edinburgh/East Coast nn for Agnes, with Nancy/Nan being a nn for Anne.

As an Edinburgh person, I've never met a Nessie (does she really exist?). I've known a few Nancys but only met a Senga when I lived near Glasgow.

Nancy is a great name, and I love Agnes, too.

Nancy so IS a nn for Agnes, and not just in Scotland. Nns are not official so you can shorten or adapt as you like. Nancy is fab, but later she could choose Ness, Nessa, etc. I knew an Ags and it really suited her!

I wouldn't have anything to do with the spelling with a 'y' in it: to me that looks like some sort of bad attempt at phoneticising the French pronunciation.

But Nancy is great as a stand alone name.

Late to the thread, I know, but I wanted to give a bit of history to the Nancy/Agnes connection.

As florascotia pointed out, Agnes was usually pronouced Annis in some parts of Scotland, and a variant, Nanise, grew out of that (not been in use since the 18th century). From Nanise came the short forms Nan, Nannie and Nanss, all of which were used as given names in their own right, and Nanss eventually developed into the pet form Nansie. The spelling later morphed into Nancy, which was in use in England as a pet form of Anne.

I think using the name Senga to mean a chav girl is just a West Coast thing, like Ned. I know a couple of Sengas and they are both lovely! One is really an Agnes, the other is her actual name. The chav thing never occurs to anyone I know.

There is a theory that Senga originally comes from the Gaelic word seang meaning slim, and it's just co-incidence that it's also Agnes backwards. Not sure I believe it though!

Horatio v interesting-thanks!

OP, Netta seems a bit forced from Agnes to me, but as pps have said a nickname can basically be anything you like really so why not? Have to say though, if it were me I'd just use Agnes in full or maybe Ness, which I think is lovely.

Never thought of it before, but I love it!

I love nancy but Agnes in English is rotten.

Agnes is an old lady name to me and really not to my taste. Nancy is lovely. Never knew that Nancy was a nun for Agnes!

Both the Nancys I know have Agnes on their birth certificate.

Netta is a nickname for Janet not Agnes.

Nanise is quite nice, maybe you could revive it. I would have called a wee girl Agnes (after DH's Granny) but I only had boys...

I love the name Nancy. But I can't use it for a child as it's my cat's name (full pedigree name is Nancy Fancypants 😬🐱).