# Fanny (name)

Fanny is a feminine given name. It originated as a diminutive of the English given name Frances or the French Françoise, both meaning "free one" and of the Spanish name "Estefanía" and the French name Stéphanie both meaning "crown.”
Fanny was a popular independent given name as well as a diminutive of other popular names in the 1700s and 1800s. Usage of the name has been steadily declining in the Anglosphere since the end of the 19th century. In British English, fanny has been a vulgar slang term for vagina or vulva since the 1830s. In American English, fanny is a slang term for the buttocks that has been in use since World War I. In New Zealand, the Registrar of Births will no longer accept the name for a baby's birth certificate because the name might be considered offensive.
The name Fanny or Fannie has remained well-used in other languages and other countries. In the United States, the name Fanny and the spelling variant Fannie are still well used by the Amish cultural group, who speak Pennsylvania Dutch. The name also remains in regular use in other countries, including France, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden.

## Women
### Given name

* Fanny Adams (1859–1867), English murder victim
* Fanny Alving (born Fanny Lönn; 1874 – 1955), Swedish poet and novelist
* Fanny Ardant (born 1949), French actress
* Fanny Arden (1859-1955), New Zealand artist
* Fanny Bastien (née Meunier; born 1961), French actress
* Fanny Yarborough Bickett (1870-1941), American social worker and political hostess
* Fanny Blankers-Koen (1918–2004), Dutch track and field athlete, Olympic and world champion and world record holder
* Fanny Blomé (born 1989), Swedish model and beauty pageant titleholder
* Fanny Bornedal (born 2000), Danish actress
* Fanny Brice (1891–1951), stage name for the American comedian, actress and singer Fania Borach
* Fanny Brownbill (1890–1948), Australian pioneering politician
* Fanny Cano (1944–1983), Mexican actress and producer
* Fanny DuBois Chase (1828–1902), American social reformer and author
* Fanny Chmelar (born 1985), German alpine skier
* Fanny Chollet (born 1991), Swiss pilot
* Fanny Clar (1875-1944), French journalist, writer, and socialist intellectual
* Fanny Jackson Coppin (1837–1913), African-American educator and missionary
* Fanny Cory (1877–1972), American artist and illustrator best known for her comic strip Little Miss Muffet
* Fanny Cottençon (born 1957), French actress
* Fanny Crosby (1820–1915), American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer
* Fanny Curtis (1908–2003), American sportswoman
* Fanny Davenport (1850–1898), Anglo-American stage actress
* Fanny Vining Davenport (1829 – 1891), English actress
* Fanny Davies (1861–1934), British pianist
* Fanny Murdaugh Downing (1831–1894), American author and poet
* Fanny Eagles (1836 – 1907), British Anglican deaconess
* Fanny Edelman (1911-2011), Argentine politician
* Fanny Elssler (1810–1884), Austrian ballerina
* Fanny Elsta (1899–1978), Norwegian opera singer
* Fanny Farmer, American candy manufacturer and retailer
* Fanny Fields (born Fanny Furman; 1880-1961), American singer, dancer and comic entertainer
* Fanny Fischer (born 1986), German sprint canoer
* Fanny Furner (1864–1938), Australian activist for the rights of women and children
* Fanny Gjörup (1961 - 2001), Swedish actress
* Fanny Good (1860 – 1950), New Zealand artist
* Fanny Grattan Guinness (born Fanny Fitzgerald; 1831 – 1898), British writer, evangelist and trainer of missionaries
* Fanny Herrero (born 1974), French television screenwriter
* Fanny Hertz (1830–1908), British educationalist and feminist
* Fanny Hjelm (1858-1944), Swedish visual artist
* Fanny Holland (1847–1931), English singer and comic actress
* Fanny Howe (born 1940), American poet, novelist, and short story writer
* Fanny Ingvoldstad (1857–1935), Norwegian painter
* Fanny J (born Fanny Jacques-André-Coquin in 1987), French singer
* Fanny Kaplan (1890–1918), Russian would-be assassin of Vladimir Lenin
* Fanny Kekelaokalani (1806–1880), member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and mother of a Queen consort
* Fanny Ketter (born 1996), Swedish actress
* Fanny Lam Christie (born 1952), Hong Kong sculptor
* Fanny Lång (born 1996), Swedish footballer
* Fanny Langdon (1864 – 1899), American zoologist
* Fanny Law (born 1953), Hong Kong civil servant
* Fanny Létourneau (born 1979), Canadian synchronized swimmer
* Fanny Lewald (1811–1889), German author and feminist
* Fanny López Jiménez (born 1970), Mexican archaeologist
* Fanny Loy (1917-unknown), Argentine actress, dancer and singer
* Fanny Lu (born Lucía Martínez Buenaventura in 1973), Colombian singer-songwriter and actress
* Fanny Mendelssohn (1805–1847), German composer and pianist, sister of composer Felix Mendelssohn
* Fanny Mikey (c. 1930 – 2008), Argentine-born Colombian actress, theatre producer and entrepreneur
* Fanny Mills (born Fannie Mills; 1860 – 1899), British-American circus performer
* Fanny E. Minot (1847–1919), American public worker
* Fanny Moser (born Fanny von Sulzer-Wart (1848 – 1925), Swiss noblewoman
* Fanny Moser (1872 – 1953), Swiss-German zoologist
* Fanny Murray (1729–1778), English courtesan
* Fanny Östlund (born 1997), Swedish tennis player
* Fanny Purdy Palmer (1839–1923), American author, lecturer and activist
* Fanny Peltier (born 1997), French sprinter
* Fanny Huntington Runnells Poole (1863–1940), American writer, book reviewer
* Fanny Ramos (born 1995), French kickboxer
* Fanny Raoul (1771-1833), French feminist writer, journalist, philosopher and essayist
* Fanny Rinne (born 1980), German field hockey player
* Bobbie Rosenfeld (born Fanny Rosenfeld; 1904 – 1969), Canadian Olympic athlete
* Fanny Rozet (1881–1958), French sculptor
* Fanny Rush, British portrait painter
* Fanny Searls (1851–1939), American doctor and botanical collector
* Fanny Sidney (born Fanny Mauferon-Vernet in 1987), French actress, director and screenwriter
* Fanny Smith (born 1992), Swiss freestyle skier
* Fanny Bixby Spencer (1879 – 1930), American philanthropist and antiwar writer
* Fanny Stål (1821–1889), Swedish pianist
* Fanny Stollár (born 1998), Hungarian tennis player
* Fanny Sunesson (born 1967), Swedish golf caddie
* Fanny Tenret (born 1990), French footballer
* Fanny Tercy (1782-1851), French historical novelist
* Fanny Vágó (born 1991), Hungarian footballer
* Fanny Valette (born 1986), French actress
* Fanny Waterman (1920–2020), English musician, founder of the Leeds International Piano Competition
* Fanny Westerdahl (1817–1873), Swedish dramatic stage actress

## Fannie

* Fannie Lou Hamer (1917 – 1977), American civil rights activist
* Fannie Hurst (1889 – 1968), American novelist and short story writer

### Pet form of Frances

* Fanny Alger (born Frances Alger; 1817 – 1889), American alleged first plural wife of Latter Day Saints founder Joseph Smith
* Fanny Allen (born Frances Allen; 1784–1819), first woman from New England to become a Catholic nun
* Fanny Blood (born Frances Younger; 1758 – 1785), English illustrator and educator, and longtime friend of Mary Wollstonecraft
* Fanny Brawne (born Frances Brawne; 1800–1865), engaged to poet John Keats
* Fanny Brough (1852–1914), British stage actress
* Frances Burney (born Frances Burney; 1752–1840), English novelist, diarist and playwright
* Fanny Chamberlain (née Frances Adams; 1825 – 1905), American First Lady of Maine
* Fanny Crosby (1820–1915), American Methodist rescue mission worker, poet, lyricist and composer
* Fanny Durack (born Sarah Frances Durack; 1889–1956), Australian swimmer
* Fanny Fitzwilliam (1801–1854), English stage actress and theatre manager
* Faye (born Fanny Hamlin in 1987), Swedish former singer, songwriter, and model
* Fanny Imlay (born Frances Imlay; 1794–1816), illegitimate daughter of the British writer and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft
* Fanny Kemble (born Frances Kemble; 1809–1893), English actress, writer and anti-slavery figure
* Fanny Knight (born Frances Knight; 1793 – 1882), English niece and correspondent of the novelist Jane Austen
* Frances Nelson (1761–1831), wife of Admiral Horatio Nelson
* Frances Sargent Osgood (1811–1850), American poet
* Fanny Parkes (born Frances Archer; 1794–1875), Welsh travel writer
* Fanny Rowe (born Frances Rowe; 1913 – 1988), English stage, film and television actress
* Fanny Steers (born Frances Steers; 1797-1861), English watercolourist, landscapist, author and composer
* Fanny Stevenson (born Frances Vandegrift; 1840– 1914), wife of writer Robert Louis Stevenson
* Frances Wimperis (1840–1925), New Zealand artist

## Pet form of Francesca

* Fanny Cerrito (born Francesca Cerrito; 1817 – 1909), Italian ballet dancer and choreographer

## Pet form of Francisca

* Fanny Anitùa (1887–1969), Mexican contralto opera singer

## Pet form of Françoise

* Fanny Dillon (born Élisabeth Françoise Dillon; 1785 – 1836), French noblewoman
* Fanny Geefs (born Isabelle Marie Françoise Corr; 1807–1883), Belgian painter of Irish descent
* Fanny Mosselman (born Françoise Mosselman; 1808–1880), Belgian noble and salonist
* Fanny Krumpholtz Pittar (born Louisa Françoise "Fanny" Therese Krumpholtz; 1781 – 1862), Bohemian harpist and composer

## Pet form of Franziska

* Fanny Elssler (born Franziska Elßler; 1810 – 1884), Austrian ballerina
* Fanny Hausmann (born Franziska Haussmann; 1818 – 1853), Slovenian writer and poet of German origin
* Fanny Schreck (born Franziska Ott; 1877-1951), German actress
Fanny Tarnow (born Franziska Christiane Johanna Friederike Tarnow; 1779–1862), German writer born
* Fanny von Arnstein (born Franziska Vögele Itzig; 1758 – 1818), Austrian socialite and salonnière
* Princess Fanny von Starhemberg (born Franziska Gräfin von Larisch-Mönnich; 1875–1943), Austrian politician

### Others

* Fanny Altendorfer, Austrian luger who competed in the late 1920s
* Fanny Balbuk (1840–1906), prominent Noongar Whadjuk woman who lived in Perth, Western Australia
* Fanny Amelia Bayfield (died 1891), English-born Canadian artist and educator
* Fanny de Beauharnais (1737–1813), French lady of letters and salon holder, born Marie-Anne-Françoise Mouchard
* Fanny Bendixen (1820–1899), hotelier and saloon keeper during the gold-rush period in British Columbia
* Fanny Blood (1758–1785), English illustrator and educator and longtime friend of Mary Wollstonecraft
* Fanny Bornedal (born 2000), Danish actress
* Fanny Bouvet (born 1994), French diver
* Fanny Brennan (1921–2001), French-American surrealist painter
* Fanny Brice (born Fania Borach; 1891-1951), American comedian, illustrated song model, singer, and actress
* Fanny Britt (born 1977), Canadian playwright and translator living in Quebec
* Fanny Buitrago (born 1943), Colombian fiction writer and playwright
* Fanny Cadeo (born 1970), Italian showgirl, model, television personality and singer
* Fanny Calder (1838–1923), promoter of education in domestic subjects in Liverpool
* Fanny Carby (1925–2002), British actress
* Fanny Carlsen, German screenwriter of the silent era
* Fanny Carrió (fl. 1879–1949), Uruguayan liberal feminist
* Fanny Churberg (1845–1892), Finnish landscape painter
* Fanny Clamagirand (born 1984), French classical violinist
* Fanny Colonna (1934–2014), French-Algerian sociologist and anthropologist
* Fanny Corbaux (1812–1883), British painter and biblical commentator
* Fanny Cornforth (1835–1909), model and mistress of painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, real name thought to be Sarah Cox
* Fanny Corri-Paltoni, English operatic soprano active in Europe between 1818 and 1835
* Fanny Cradock (born Phyllis Pechey; 1909–1994), English restaurant critic, television cook and writer
* Fanny Currey (1848–1917), Irish horticulturalist and watercolour painter
* Fanny Deakin (1883–1968), politician from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England
* Fanny Deberghes (born 1994), French swimmer
* Fanny Duberly (1829–1903), English soldier's wife who wrote a journal of her experiences
* Fanny Carter Edson (1887–1952), American petroleum geologist
* Fanny Fern (1811–1872), pen name of Sara Willis, American newspaper columnist, humorist, novelist, and author of children's stories
* Fanny Garrido (1846–1917), Spanish writer
* Fanny Chambers Gooch (1842–1913), American author
* Fanny Heldy (1888–1973), Belgian operatic soprano born Marguerite Virginie Emma Clémentine Deceuninck
* Fanny Kaplan (born Feiga Haimovna Roytblat; 1890 – 1918; Russian Socialist-Revolutionary who attempted to assassinate Vladimir Lenin
* Fanny Lumsden (born Edwina Lumsden in 1986), Australian country music singer and songwriter
* Fanny Bury Palliser (1805–1878), English writer on art, and lace
* Fanny Addison Pitt (1847–1937), English actress
* Fanny Rubio (born 1949), Spanish academic
* Fanny Cochrane Smith (1834–1905), Aboriginal Tasmanian

## Men

* Fanny Amun (born 1962), Nigerian former football player and coach
* Frederick Fanny Walden (1888–1949), English footballer and cricketer

## Fictional characters

* Fanny Hill, the protagonist of Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, an erotic novel by John Cleland
* Fanny Price, heroine of Jane Austen's 1814 novel Mansfield Park
* Fanny (Guilty Gear), video game character
* Fanny (Sesame Street), children's television character
* Flapper Fanny, cartoon character
* Lord Fanny, from the DC Comics series The Invisibles
* Madame Fanny La Fan, in the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!
* Aunt Fanny, a comic character played by Fran Allison on the radio show Don McNeill's Breakfast Club
* Aunt Fanny, in Enid Blyton's The Famous Five novel series
* Fanny Ekdahl, in Ingmar Bergman's 1982 film Fanny and Alexander
* Fanny, the main character in Marcel Pagnol's 1931 play Fanny and the 1932 film adaptation Fanny
* Francine "Fanny" Fulbright (Numbuh 86), from the Cartoon Network animated series Codename: Kids Next Door
* Lady Stephanie 'Fanny' Button from the BBC sitcom Ghosts

## Animals

* Fanny (elephant) (born 1940s), female Asian elephant who spent the majority of her life in a small zoo in Pawtucket, Rhode Island