How do you pronounce Nainsí?

Nainsí is pronounced “NAN-shee”. Irish has three main dialect groups (Ulster, Connacht and Munster) and many names are said differently in each. The respellings here give the pronunciation most commonly heard in Irish English; where a well-known variant exists, both are shown.

What does the name Nainsí mean?

Nainsí means a popular variant of Ánna (Anne).

Is Nainsí a boy's or a girl's name?

Nainsí is traditionally a girl's name in Ireland.

How else is Nainsí spelled?

Other spellings and equivalents include Nainseadh, Neans, Nancy, Nance. Irish names were written down by English-speaking clerks for centuries, which is why so many spellings survive for one name.

Girl's name

Nainsí

“NAN-shee”

a popular variant of Ánna (Anne)

NainseadhNeansNancyNance

Source: Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923) ↗

The story behind the name

The Irish Nancy. Woulfe spells it Nainseadh or Neans and calls it a popular variant of Ánna, which is where the English Nancy came from too.

Meanings follow Ó Corráin & Maguire's Irish Names and Woulfe; pronunciations give the commonest Irish-English form. Know this name better — a dialect pronunciation, a family tradition? Tell us. · All Irish names A–Z