How common is the name Nicholas?

711,305 people in the United States have the first name Nicholas, about 1 in 425. It ranks #49 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NICHOLAS

#49

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
711,305
About
1 in 425
This common or more
20.7%
Who bears it

Of the 711,305 people named Nicholas, 77.5% reported their origin as White, 11.5% as Hispanic or Latino and 4.7% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nicholas peaked in 1995, when 29,216 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1995
Births that year
29,216
In 2025*
3,123 ▼89%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 929,199 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Nicholas by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1990s, when it ranked #8. The largest share of babies named Nicholas, 43%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1880s#409730
1890s#484857
1900s#4411,334
1910s#26810,253
1920s#29513,700
1930s#3439,756
1940s#31615,531
1950s#29922,666
1960s#31422,407
1970s#9265,476
1980s#24224,702
1990s#8275,952
2000s#18177,931
2010s#8566,897
2020s#17321,007
Before 19010.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–272.4%
Silent Generation 1928–452.2%
Baby boom 1946–644.4%
Generation X 1965–8010.6%
Millennials 1981–9643%
Generation Z 1997–1230.5%
2013 and later6.7%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Nicholas is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nicholas has been most common in New Hampshire (1.8×), Connecticut (1.7×), and Rhode Island (1.7×), and least common in Mississippi (0.42×).

922,073 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Nicholas

#47 Jonathan · 717,208#48 Donald · 715,624#50 Amanda · 698,989#51 Kimberly · 696,165

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Nicholas, most common first.

#552 Nicolas · 99,604#1,334 Nickolas · 27,186#1,688 Nikolas · 18,364#5,416 Nicolasa · 3,179#6,800 Nicholaus · 2,317#7,384 Nicklas · 2,073#9,824 Nichols · 1,392#10,225 Nickolaus · 1,315

Also a last name

As a last name, Nicholas ranks #1,378 of 156,621, with 25,235 people. See Nicholas as a last name

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