How rare is the name Nikola?

5,177 people in the United States have the first name Nikola, about 1 in 58,341. It ranks #3,813 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NIKOLA

#3,813

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
5,177
About
1 in 58,341
This common or more
83.1%
Who bears it

Of the 5,177 people named Nikola, 88.2% reported their origin as White, 5.2% as Hispanic or Latino and 3.5% as two or more races. 84.8% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nikola peaked in 2020, when 159 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19482025
Peak year
2020
Births that year
159
In 2025*
109 ▼31%
Recorded as
mostly male

At least 4,102 babies have been given the name since 1948. 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.

Nikola by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #2,900. The largest share of babies named Nikola, 44.3%, were born in 2013 or later.

1940s#12,5745
1960s#6,70994
1970s#4,121298
1980s#5,308264
1990s#4,224505
2000s#3,908800
2010s#2,9311,329
2020s#2,900807
Baby boom 1946–641%
Generation X 1965–809.3%
Millennials 1981–9614%
Generation Z 1997–1231.3%
2013 and later44.3%

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 Nikola is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nikola has been most common in Illinois (5.1×), Florida (2.8×), and California (2.4×), and least common in Michigan (0.64×).

1,794 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 Nikola

#3,811 Linsey · 5,184#3,812 Carolynn · 5,178#3,814 Rishi · 5,176#3,815 Alaya · 5,173

Spelled almost the same

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

#2,111 Nicola · 12,714#2,814 Nikolai · 8,218#3,406 Nikole · 6,169#4,078 Nikolay · 4,746#11,586 Nikol · 1,101#18,313 Nikoli · 590#26,960 Nickola · 342#44,846 Nikyla · 153

Also a last name

As a last name, Nikola ranks #89,848 of 156,621, with 221 people. See Nikola as a last name

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