How rare is the name Nicola?

12,714 people in the United States have the first name Nicola, about 1 in 23,756. It ranks #2,111 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NICOLA

#2,111

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
12,714
About
1 in 23,756
This common or more
78.6%
Who bears it

Of the 12,714 people named Nicola, 72.6% reported their origin as White, 16.7% as Black and 5.1% as Hispanic or Latino. 68.3% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nicola peaked in 1972, when 236 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19082025
Peak year
1972
Births that year
236
In 2025*
40 ▼83%
Recorded as
mostly female

At least 8,090 babies have been given the name since 1908. 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.

Nicola by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #1,405. The largest share of babies named Nicola, 31.5%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.

1900s#4,6306
1910s#2,684197
1920s#3,568193
1930s#4,672101
1940s#2,451361
1950s#2,554447
1960s#1,7881,020
1970s#1,4051,761
1980s#1,9891,184
1990s#2,3941,197
2000s#3,649877
2010s#5,824478
2020s#6,070268
Greatest Generation 1901–274.4%
Silent Generation 1928–453.6%
Baby boom 1946–6412.8%
Generation X 1965–8031.5%
Millennials 1981–9623.7%
Generation Z 1997–1217%
2013 and later7.1%

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 Nicola is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nicola has been most common in New York (4.3×), New Jersey (2.7×), and California (2.3×), and least common in Texas (0.28×).

3,326 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 Nicola

#2,109 Ernie · 12,719#2,109 Tamra · 12,719#2,112 Knox · 12,713#2,113 Sallie · 12,711

Spelled almost the same

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

#78 Nicole · 544,076#3,813 Nikola · 5,177#5,938 Nicol · 2,775#8,087 Nicolai · 1,819#8,969 Nichola · 1,584#9,286 Nicolo · 1,507#10,260 Nicolae · 1,309#19,044 Nicoli · 561

Also a last name

As a last name, Nicola ranks #16,717 of 156,621, with 1,663 people. See Nicola as a last name

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