Nicolas
Nicolas was given to 2,053 boys in 2025, #177 among boys’ names; 101,764 Americans have been recorded with it since 1882 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 96,700 Americans named Nicolas and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (95% of everyone recorded); the median is 22 years old and half are between 13 and 31.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Nicolas by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Nicolas mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Nicolas is “a male given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek], of less common usage, variant of Nicholas.”
/ˈnɪ.kə.ləs/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Nicolas?
#177 among boys’ names, 2025
Nicolas rose from #202 in 2015 to #177 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 1.0 to 1.2 per 1,000.
3,012 babies in 2003, the peak
Nicolas peaked in 2003, when 3,012 babies were given it (3,003 boys, #134 among boys’ names). The 2,053 births of 2025 are 68% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,053 | #177 | 1.2 |
| 2024 | 1,997 | #184 | 1.2 |
| 2023 | 1,901 | #192 | 1.1 |
| 2022 | 1,989 | #191 | 1.1 |
| 2021 | 2,009 | #189 | 1.1 |
| 2020 | 1,894 | #202 | 1.1 |
| 2019 | 2,145 | #181 | 1.2 |
| 2018 | 2,098 | #195 | 1.2 |
| 2017 | 1,919 | #206 | 1.0 |
| 2016 | 2,085 | #194 | 1.1 |
Every recorded year (129)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,998 | #202 | 1.0 |
| 2014 | 2,077 | #196 | 1.1 |
| 2013 | 2,129 | #191 | 1.1 |
| 2012 | 2,131 | #180 | 1.1 |
| 2011 | 2,242 | #168 | 1.2 |
| 2010 | 2,392 | #163 | 1.2 |
| 2009 | 2,491 | #157 | 1.3 |
| 2008 | 2,683 | #151 | 1.3 |
| 2007 | 2,833 | #144 | 1.4 |
| 2006 | 2,939 | #140 | 1.4 |
| 2005 | 2,966 | #136 | 1.5 |
| 2004 | 2,872 | #138 | 1.4 |
| 2003 | 3,003 | #134 | 1.5 |
| 2002 | 2,810 | #137 | 1.4 |
| 2001 | 2,824 | #142 | 1.5 |
| 2000 | 2,846 | #137 | 1.4 |
| 1999 | 2,763 | #138 | 1.4 |
| 1998 | 2,920 | #132 | 1.5 |
| 1997 | 2,430 | #143 | 1.3 |
| 1996 | 2,298 | #151 | 1.2 |
| 1995 | 2,006 | #164 | 1.1 |
| 1994 | 1,953 | #164 | 1.0 |
| 1993 | 1,819 | #177 | 0.93 |
| 1992 | 1,798 | #179 | 0.90 |
| 1991 | 1,589 | #195 | 0.79 |
| 1990 | 1,643 | #187 | 0.80 |
| 1989 | 1,530 | #191 | 0.76 |
| 1988 | 1,204 | #218 | 0.63 |
| 1987 | 1,020 | #230 | 0.55 |
| 1986 | 974 | #238 | 0.53 |
| 1985 | 1,001 | #231 | 0.54 |
| 1984 | 959 | #233 | 0.53 |
| 1983 | 944 | #237 | 0.53 |
| 1982 | 893 | #249 | 0.49 |
| 1981 | 896 | #248 | 0.50 |
| 1980 | 847 | #260 | 0.47 |
| 1979 | 905 | #243 | 0.53 |
| 1978 | 799 | #253 | 0.49 |
| 1977 | 436 | #375 | 0.27 |
| 1976 | 307 | #445 | 0.20 |
| 1975 | 309 | #454 | 0.20 |
| 1974 | 226 | #532 | 0.14 |
| 1973 | 250 | #493 | 0.16 |
| 1972 | 205 | #560 | 0.13 |
| 1971 | 212 | #557 | 0.12 |
| 1970 | 221 | #547 | 0.12 |
| 1969 | 179 | #583 | 0.10 |
| 1968 | 169 | #586 | 0.10 |
| 1967 | 172 | #580 | 0.10 |
| 1966 | 123 | #669 | 0.07 |
| 1965 | 139 | #639 | 0.07 |
| 1964 | 130 | #678 | 0.07 |
| 1963 | 120 | #718 | 0.06 |
| 1962 | 114 | #720 | 0.06 |
| 1961 | 108 | #742 | 0.05 |
| 1960 | 134 | #677 | 0.06 |
| 1959 | 122 | #697 | 0.06 |
| 1958 | 111 | #713 | 0.05 |
| 1957 | 100 | #754 | 0.05 |
| 1956 | 102 | #729 | 0.05 |
| 1955 | 90 | #768 | 0.04 |
| 1954 | 106 | #706 | 0.05 |
| 1953 | 102 | #704 | 0.05 |
| 1952 | 104 | #684 | 0.05 |
| 1951 | 111 | #665 | 0.06 |
| 1950 | 93 | #712 | 0.05 |
| 1949 | 95 | #704 | 0.05 |
| 1948 | 66 | #842 | 0.04 |
| 1947 | 88 | #734 | 0.05 |
| 1946 | 79 | #741 | 0.05 |
| 1945 | 69 | #742 | 0.05 |
| 1944 | 61 | #807 | 0.04 |
| 1943 | 62 | #842 | 0.04 |
| 1942 | 58 | #864 | 0.04 |
| 1941 | 56 | #849 | 0.05 |
| 1940 | 60 | #807 | 0.05 |
| 1939 | 34 | #1,117 | 0.03 |
| 1938 | 54 | #850 | 0.05 |
| 1937 | 55 | #829 | 0.05 |
| 1936 | 46 | #913 | 0.04 |
| 1935 | 57 | #829 | 0.05 |
| 1934 | 57 | #833 | 0.06 |
| 1933 | 49 | #893 | 0.05 |
| 1932 | 69 | #760 | 0.07 |
| 1931 | 70 | #739 | 0.07 |
| 1930 | 76 | #729 | 0.07 |
| 1929 | 79 | #699 | 0.07 |
| 1928 | 78 | #729 | 0.07 |
| 1927 | 65 | #838 | 0.06 |
| 1926 | 61 | #851 | 0.05 |
| 1925 | 83 | #714 | 0.07 |
| 1924 | 96 | #661 | 0.08 |
| 1923 | 69 | #813 | 0.06 |
| 1922 | 74 | #773 | 0.07 |
| 1921 | 74 | #787 | 0.07 |
| 1920 | 70 | #804 | 0.07 |
| 1919 | 54 | #914 | 0.06 |
| 1918 | 45 | #1,004 | 0.04 |
| 1917 | 64 | #790 | 0.07 |
| 1916 | 27 | #1,322 | 0.03 |
| 1915 | 57 | #810 | 0.07 |
| 1914 | 43 | #812 | 0.07 |
| 1913 | 32 | #866 | 0.06 |
| 1912 | 22 | #985 | 0.05 |
| 1911 | 9 | #1,257 | 0.04 |
| 1910 | 14 | #849 | 0.07 |
| 1909 | 12 | #881 | 0.07 |
| 1908 | 12 | #813 | 0.08 |
| 1907 | 6 | #1,291 | 0.04 |
| 1905 | 7 | #1,060 | 0.05 |
| 1904 | 9 | #855 | 0.07 |
| 1900 | 5 | #1,440 | 0.03 |
| 1898 | 6 | #1,088 | 0.05 |
| 1896 | 6 | #1,069 | 0.05 |
| 1894 | 7 | #924 | 0.06 |
| 1889 | 5 | #1,066 | 0.05 |
| 1886 | 7 | #818 | 0.06 |
| 1885 | 9 | #681 | 0.08 |
| 1882 | 5 | #1,048 | 0.04 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Nicolas a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Nicolas has been given almost only to boys: 179 girls in 129 years of records.
Girls and boys named Nicolas: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Nicolas, and how old are they?
96,700 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 95% of the 101,764 Americans ever recorded as Nicolas. The median Nicolas alive today is 22 years old; half are between 13 and 31.
The 2020 Census counted 99,604 people named Nicolas (291 women and girls, 99,313 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 86,414 born in the U.S. The Census count is 15% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 202 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,330 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 4,970 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 21,600 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 42,500 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 26,100 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Nicolas born?
The states with the most babies named Nicolas are California, Texas and Florida, with 49% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 401 | #101 | 1.6× |
| Texas | 387 | #105 | 1.4× |
| Florida | 212 | #105 | 1.7× |
| New York | 116 | #167 | 1.1× |
| New Jersey | 90 | #110 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 69 | #173 | 1.0× |
| Arizona | 56 | #161 | 1.1× |
| Massachusetts | 50 | #145 | 1.1× |
| Georgia | 49 | #256 | 0.7× |
| Washington | 46 | #191 | 0.9× |
Where Nicolas is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Nicolas is most over-represented in Florida: since 1910 it was given 1.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Nicolas with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 177,632 babies since 1880, Nicolas is the most given (57% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,053 of their 2,639 babies (78%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Nicolas
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Nicolas and names like it
- Compare Nicolas and NickolasBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sNicolas peaked in 2003.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Nicolas since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Nicolas: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2003The year the most babies were named Nicolas.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Nicolas alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with NMost given first.