Pronounced FAN-ee, Fanny traces back to the Latin name Franciscus, meaning “free spirit.” She blossomed in French salons as a charming nickname for Frances. She brings a playful bounce to every introduction, like sunbeams dancing at a fiesta with a wink and a giggle. She has inspired creative minds from novelist Fanny Burney to composer Fanny Mendelssohn, and Jane Austen’s gentle Fanny Price proves her quiet strength. Today, she feels fresh again, a tiny bundle of warmth that carries independence in her syllables. She spreads cheer like a bright butterfly and whispers stories of freedom and joy wherever she goes.
| Fanny Crosby - Fanny J. Crosby was an American poet and composer who wrote over 8,000 hymns and devoted herself to teaching and mission work. |
| Frances Brawne Lindon, known as Fanny Brawne, was the fiancee and muse of English Romantic poet John Keats. |
| Fanny Blankers-Koen was a Dutch track and field star who won four gold medals at the 1948 Olympics as a 30-year-old mother of two. |
| Fanny Brice was an American comedian, singer, and actress best known for creating and starring in the radio comedy The Baby Snooks Show. |
| Fanny Kaplan was a Russian revolutionary who attempted to assassinate Vladimir Lenin in 1918 and was subsequently executed. |
| Fanny Murray was a celebrated 18th-century English courtesan and fashion leader who rose from poverty to wealth and fame. |
| Fanny Ronalds - Mary Frances Ronalds was an American socialite and amateur singer known for her London musical salons and long romance with composer Arthur Sullivan. |
| Fanny Fitzwilliam - Frances Elizabeth Fitzwilliam, known as Fanny, was an English actress. |
| Fanny Rask is a Swedish ice hockey player who represented her country at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. |
| Fanny Duberly - Frances Isabella Duberly was an English diarist known for documenting her experiences during the Crimean War and the Indian Rebellion of 1857. |
| Fanny Young Cory was a pioneering American female cartoonist best known for Sonnysayings and Little Miss Muffet. |
| Dame Fanny Waterman was a British pianist and piano teacher best known for founding the Leeds International Piano Competition. |
| Fanny Durack - Sarah Frances "Fanny" Gately was an Australian swimmer who dominated women's freestyle swimming across all distances from 1910 to 1918. |
| Fanny Wilson disguised herself as a man to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War alongside her friend Nellie Graves. |
| Fanny G. Hazlett - Frances Ann Gore Hazlett was among the oldest pioneer women in Nevada. |