Pansy
Feminine · “thought”
Pansy is a flower name with a word hidden inside it: the French for thought. The flower was named for the way its head bows, as though considering something.
How old is the name Pansy?
Pansy was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Pansy alive today was born around 1926, making them about 99 years old. About 2,600 people named Pansy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pansy most popular?
Pansy peaked in 1887, reaching #287 nationally. See the whole 1887 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From pensee to Pansy
The story of Pansy
The name belongs to the same nineteenth-century wave of flower names that produced Violet, Daisy, Ivy and Myrtle, and like them it arrived in England and America together. It had a longer literary life than most of them: the flower carries its meaning in the old language of flowers, and Shakespeare had already put it into Hamlet with the sense attached, so the name arrived pre-loaded with an idea rather than only a color.
Meaning
thought
From French pensee, 'thought', which is what the flower is called in French. The English name is a direct borrowing of the French word, and the connection to thinking was explicit from the start — Ophelia names it in exactly those terms.
How the name formed
- pensee
- Pansy
Related forms: Pensee
Pronouncing Pansy
PAN-zee
Two syllables, stress on the first. The s is voiced, so it sounds like a z.
Nicknames for Pansy
Limited
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
- 1915267 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #287reached in 1887
- Change vs 1998
- +20.0%6 in 2018, 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.
Pansy in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Pensee in French — related form
Pansys among us
people named Pansy 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
Pansy has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- A flower name that carries an idea rather than only a color, and the idea is documented in the French word behind it.
- It belongs to a family of botanical names — Violet, Daisy, Ivy — that have largely returned to fashion.
- Two syllables, phonetic, and impossible to misspell.
- In English the word has a long history as a slur against gay men, and that use is still current enough to matter. This is the first thing to weigh.
- It also carries a general sense of weakness in ordinary English speech, which a child will meet in a playground.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Pansy to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Pansy? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Pansy
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Pansys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,600 people named Pansy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pansy in 2025?
- Pansy is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Pansy with classmates?
- Pansy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Patricia#1334 · Pamela#2239 · Phyllis#11932 · Peggy#8362 · Paula#853 · Pauline#2957 · Pearl#776 · Paige#346
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pansy? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pansy and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle