Nicholos
Victor or conqueror of the people from the Greek origins.
Name Census estimates that about 686 living Americans carry the first name Nicholos. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicholos today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicholos births was 1983 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicholos. 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
686
~ 1 in 499,642 Americans
Peak year
1983
35 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2010 SSA rank
#11,769
Tracked since 1916
Census
Nicholos in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 566 people with the first name Nicholos, which placed it at #18,900 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
#18,900
National first-name rank
People counted
566
566 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicholos
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicholos is White at 63.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.8%) and Hispanic (10.6%). 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 Nicholos 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 Nicholos at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.3% · 358
- Black or African American17.8% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino10.6% · 60
- Two or more races4.9% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 7
Popularity
Nicholos: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicholos from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 250 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
Nicholos 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 Nicholos during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicholos' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Nicholos, while Texas, New York, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicholos
Nicholos is a masculine given name derived from the Greek name Nikolaos, which is a compound of the words "niko" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people". The name can be traced back to the 4th century AD and was borne by St. Nicholas, the famous 4th-century bishop of Myra in modern-day Turkey, who was renowned for his generosity and kindness.
The name Nicholos gained widespread popularity across Europe and the Christian world due to the veneration of St. Nicholas as the patron saint of children, sailors, and numerous cities. The name was adopted and adapted into various linguistic forms, such as Nicholas, Nicolas, Nikolas, and Nicola, among others.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Nicholos can be found in the 12th-century chronicle "Chronica Majora" by Matthew Paris, which mentions a certain Nicholos de Farnham, an English clergyman. Another notable bearer of the name was Nicholos of Padua, an Italian Franciscan friar and theologian who lived in the late 13th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nicholos. One of the most renowned was Nicholos Copernicus (1473-1543), the Polish astronomer whose heliocentric theory revolutionized our understanding of the universe. Another was Nicholos Flamel (c. 1330-1418), a French scribe and manuscript-seller who achieved legendary status as an alchemist.
In the realm of literature, Nicholos Udall (c. 1505-1556) was an English playwright and cleric who is credited with introducing the concept of comedy to English drama. Nicholos Breton (c. 1545-c. 1626) was an English poet and novelist who wrote extensively on pastoral themes.
Nicholos Roerich (1874-1947), a Russian painter, writer, and philosopher, was renowned for his vibrant depictions of Himalayan landscapes and his contributions to the preservation of cultural heritage.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Nicholos throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and disciplines.
People
Nicholos + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicholos 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
Nicholos: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicholos?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 686 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicholos 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 499,642 US residents.
Is Nicholos a common name?
We classify Nicholos as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 768 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicholos most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicholos was 1983, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicholos is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicholos in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 566 people with the name Nicholos, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,900 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 Nicholos 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 Nicholos?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicholos appears almost entirely male. Of the 566 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Nicholos?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicholos is White at 63.3%. The next largest groups are Black (17.8%) and Hispanic (10.6%). 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 Nicholos most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nicholos in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.3% (358 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 Nicholos in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicholos a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicholos 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 Nicholos still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicholos 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 Nicholos 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 the name Nicholos?
Find out how many people share the name Nicholos on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.