Nagy

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Nagy is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English surname183K records spelled Nagy10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Nagÿ, Ňagy, Ņägy

• Spanish surname32K records spelled Nagy13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, France, Argentina, Spain

  Languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese

  Also written Nägy, Nägÿ, Ňặgy, Nâgy, Ñägÿ

• a separate surname7.9K records spelled Nagy2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Romania

  Also written Nágy

• Croatian surname3.5K records spelled Nagy7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, United States, Romania, Serbia

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Slovenian

  Also written Ńágÿ

56 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Nagy is also recorded in 4 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Hungarian, big, great

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, Imre, Hungarian political leader

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In French, a Hungarian ethnic surname, Nagy, from Hungarian, equivalent to the French Legrand

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, A Hungarian ethnic surname from Hungarian, equivalent to English Grand.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

HU Nyilvántartó — Top-100 birth surnames in population (2020–2025) — 14 years between 2011–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Lucia Moholyb. 1894CHnot in their usual nameCzech photographer (1894–1989)
• László Moholy-Nagyb. 1895HUHungarian artist (1895–1946)
• Imre Nagyb. 1896HUHungarian politician (1896-1958)
• Sibyl Moholy-Nagyb. 1903USGerman-Hungarian American art historian
• Ferenc Nagyb. 1903HUHungarian politician (1903-1979)
• Gábor Takács-Nagyb. 1956HUHungarian musician
• Phyllis Nagyb. 1962USAmerican writer and director
• Ervin Nagyb. 1976HUHungarian actor
• Zsolt Nagyb. 1993HUHungarian association football player
• Ádám Nagyb. 1995HUHungarian association football player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 88 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Nagy?

We estimate roughly 23 thousand people bear Nagy (counting its spellings and scripts) across 16 countries in our records.

In which country does Nagy have the most bearers?

Nagy is most frequently recorded in Hungary, where it is most often spelled nagy.

How common is Nagy compared with other names?

In Hungary, Nagy is the most common surname of 83,469 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Nagy mean?

Recorded meaning: nickname for a large or powerful person, from Hungarian nagy ‘big’.