Nicholis
Masculine name derived from the Greek 'Nikolaos' meaning "victory of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 717 living Americans carry the first name Nicholis. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicholis today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicholis births was 1990 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicholis. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
717
~ 1 in 478,040 Americans
Peak year
1990
38 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,489
Tracked since 1955
Census
Nicholis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 744 people with the first name Nicholis, which placed it at #15,455 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#15,455
National first-name rank
People counted
744
744 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicholis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicholis is White at 72.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.7%) and Black (9.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Nicholis described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Nicholis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.2% · 537
- Hispanic or Latino11.7% · 87
- Black or African American9.4% · 70
- Two or more races3.6% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 9
Popularity
Nicholis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicholis from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 252 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nicholis by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Nicholis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicholis' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicholis
The name Nicholis has its origins in the Greek language, deriving from the word "Nikolaos," which means "victor of the people." This name has been in use for centuries and has traveled across various cultures and regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nicholis can be found in ancient Greek texts, where it was used to refer to individuals who had achieved victories or held positions of power. The name gained particular prominence during the Byzantine era, when it was widely used among the ruling class and nobility.
In the Christian tradition, the name Nicholis is closely associated with Saint Nicholas, the 4th-century Bishop of Myra, who was renowned for his generosity and kindness toward children. His feast day, celebrated on December 6th, has become a cherished holiday in many parts of the world, with traditions of gift-giving and celebrations.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Nicholis. One of the earliest was Nicholis Demetrius I, a Byzantine emperor who ruled from 1081 to 1118. Another prominent figure was Nicholis Copernicus (1473-1543), the Polish astronomer who revolutionized our understanding of the solar system with his heliocentric theory.
In the literary world, Nicholis Hawthorne (1804-1864), the American novelist and short story writer, is renowned for his works such as "The Scarlet Letter" and "The House of the Seven Gables." Nicholis Nickleby, the protagonist of Charles Dickens' novel "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby," published in 1839, is another notable bearer of the name.
Nicholis Tesla (1856-1943), the Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer, is widely celebrated for his groundbreaking contributions to the field of electricity and his numerous patents, including the alternating current (AC) electrical system.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Nicholis, each leaving their unique mark on their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human achievement.
People
Nicholis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicholis as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nicholis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicholis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 717 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicholis going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 478,040 US residents.
Is Nicholis a common name?
We classify Nicholis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 742 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicholis most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicholis was 1990, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicholis is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicholis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 744 people with the name Nicholis, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,455 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Nicholis in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Nicholis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicholis appears almost entirely male. Of the 743 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Nicholis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicholis is White at 72.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.7%) and Black (9.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Nicholis most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nicholis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.2% (537 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Nicholis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicholis a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicholis in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Nicholis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicholis in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Nicholis can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Nicholis as a first name?
You can see how many people share the name Nicholis on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.