Annis
Feminine · “pure”
Annis is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 2,914 girls against 7 boys since 1880.
Annis is the name Nancy came from, and it is older than either of the names usually credited. Medieval England wore Agnes down to Annis in ordinary speech, wrote it that way for centuries, and then largely forgot it while its own descendant went to the top of the lists.
How old is the name Annis?
Annis was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Annis alive today was born around 1926, making them about 99 years old. About 700 people named Annis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Annis most popular?
Annis peaked in 1883, reaching #536 nationally. See the whole 1883 chart.
Where it comes from
From Hagne to Annis
The story of Annis
Agnes was one of the standard English women's names from the twelfth century onward, and English mouths did to it what they did to everything: the g softened, the ending shifted, and Annis is what came out. It was common enough to be a name in its own right in parish registers, and it produced further forms of its own — Annice, Anness, and, with the old habit of prefixing mine to a name, the Nan that eventually gave Nancy. American records carry it from the first year of the count, given to boys as well as girls, and then it fades almost completely inside two generations.
Meaningscholars disagree
pure, chaste
The Greek original meant pure. The name was very early confused with the Latin word for a lamb, and the lamb has been attached to it ever since in art and in explanation, without being in the name at all.
How the name formed
- Hagne
- Agnes
- Annis
Related forms: Agnes · Nest
Pronouncing Annis
AN-iss
Two syllables with the weight at the front. There is no second reading to correct, though readers will try to make it Anise.
Nicknames for Annis
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 192082 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #536reached in 1883
- Change vs 1989
- +20.0%6 in 2008, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Annis in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Agnes in English — related form
- Nest in Welsh — related form
Anniss among us
people named Annis are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Annis sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is said correctly at sight by anyone who reads English.
- It has a documented English history running back to the Middle Ages.
- Five letters, two syllables, and no silent letters.
- It shares a sound with a spice, and someone will mention it.
- The spelling is recorded for boys as well as girls in the United States.
- It reads clearly as a name of the nineteenth century and earlier.
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What they receive
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Annis
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Anniss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Annis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Annis in 2025?
- Annis is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Annis with classmates?
- Annis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Annis? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Annis and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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