Nicklaus
Victor of the people, conqueror of folk, from Greek.
Name Census estimates that about 3,354 living Americans carry the first name Nicklaus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicklaus today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicklaus births was 1997 (156 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicklaus. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Nicklaus with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.4K
~ 1 in 102,193 Americans
Peak year
1997
156 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,978
Tracked since 1964
Census
Nicklaus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,678 people with the first name Nicklaus, which placed it at #6,088 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
#6,088
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,678 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicklaus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicklaus is White at 79.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Nicklaus 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 Nicklaus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.5% · 2,129
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 201
- Black or African American5.0% · 134
- Two or more races4.3% · 115
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 78
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 21
Popularity
Nicklaus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicklaus from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,178 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nicklaus 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 Nicklaus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicklaus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Nicklaus, while Massachusetts, Iowa, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 55 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicklaus
The name Nicklaus is derived from the Greek name Nikolaos, which is a combination of the words "niko" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people." It was a popular name among early Christians, who admired Saint Nicholas, the 4th-century Bishop of Myra, known for his generosity and kindness.
The name Nicklaus has its roots in the Byzantine Empire, where it was widely used. As Christianity spread, the name traveled westward and gained popularity across Europe. Over time, variations such as Nicholas, Nikolas, and Nicklaus emerged in different regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nicklaus can be found in the 12th-century writings of the German scholar and mystic, Hildegard of Bingen. She mentioned a monk named Nicklaus von Munzenberg, who was instrumental in spreading the teachings of the Benedictine order.
In the 13th century, the name Nicklaus was associated with Saint Nicholas of Flüe, a Swiss hermit and mystic, who played a significant role in promoting peace during the Old Swiss Confederacy. His feast day is celebrated annually on March 21st in Switzerland.
Another notable figure with the name Nicklaus was Nicklaus Copernicus, the renowned Polish astronomer and mathematician, born in 1473. His groundbreaking work on the heliocentric model of the solar system revolutionized our understanding of the universe.
In the realm of literature, Nicklaus Lenau, born in 1802, was a prominent Austrian poet and writer known for his melancholic and introspective works. His poems explored themes of nature, love, and the human condition.
During the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the name Nicklaus was the legendary American golfer, Jack Nicklaus, born in 1940. He won a record 18 major championships and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
People
Nicklaus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicklaus 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
Nicklaus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicklaus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,354 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicklaus 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 102,193 US residents.
Is Nicklaus a common name?
We classify Nicklaus as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,451 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicklaus most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicklaus was 1997, when 156 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicklaus is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicklaus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,678 people with the name Nicklaus, or 0.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,088 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 Nicklaus 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 Nicklaus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicklaus appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,673 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Nicklaus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicklaus is White at 79.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Nicklaus most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nicklaus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.5% (2,129 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 Nicklaus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicklaus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicklaus 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 Nicklaus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicklaus 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 Nicklaus 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 Americans are named Nicklaus?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.