Nickolos
Victor or conqueror of the people, from the Greek "nikos" (victory) and "laos" (people).
Name Census estimates that about 54 living Americans carry the first name Nickolos. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nickolos today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nickolos births was 1979 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nickolos. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Nickolos. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
54
~ 1 in 6,347,303 Americans
Peak year
1979
7 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2004 SSA rank
#10,930
Tracked since 1978
Popularity
Nickolos: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nickolos from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 16 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Nickolos remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nickolos 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 Nickolos during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nickolos
The name Nickolos is derived from the Greek name Nikolaos, which is a combination of the words "nikos" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people." It can be translated as "victor of the people" or "victory of the people." This name has its origins in ancient Greek culture and has been in use for over 2,000 years.
The name Nikolaos was popularized by the fame of Saint Nicholas, the 4th-century bishop of Myra, now in modern-day Turkey. Saint Nicholas was known for his generosity and became the inspiration for the modern-day figure of Santa Claus. His feast day is celebrated on December 6th, and his name has been widely adopted in various forms across many cultures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nickolos can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. He mentioned a Spartan named Nikolaos who fought in the Greco-Persian Wars.
Throughout history, there have been numerous notable individuals with the name Nickolos or its variations. Here are five examples:
1. Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) was an Italian Renaissance philosopher, historian, and political theorist, best known for his influential work "The Prince."
2. Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated the heliocentric model of the universe, which placed the Sun at the center of the solar system.
3. Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, and futurist, known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electrical supply system.
4. Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) was a Russian novelist and playwright, considered one of the most influential writers of the 19th century, best known for his works like "The Overcoat" and "Dead Souls."
5. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) was a Russian composer and a member of the group known as "The Five," which aimed to create a distinct Russian style of classical music.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Nickolos or its variations, reflecting its enduring popularity and significance across cultures and time periods.
People
Nickolos + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nickolos 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
Nickolos: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nickolos?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 54 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nickolos 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 6,347,303 US residents.
Is Nickolos a common name?
We classify Nickolos as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 56 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nickolos most popular?
The single biggest year for Nickolos was 1979, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nickolos is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Nickolos in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nickolos a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nickolos 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 Nickolos still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nickolos 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 Nickolos 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Nickolos?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.