Niclas
A masculine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "victory of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 78 living Americans carry the first name Niclas. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Niclas today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Niclas births was 1999 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Niclas. 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 Niclas with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Niclas. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
78
~ 1 in 4,394,286 Americans
Peak year
1999
8 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2011 SSA rank
#13,748
Tracked since 1974
Census
Niclas in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 226 people with the first name Niclas, which placed it at #35,529 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
#35,529
National first-name rank
People counted
226
226 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Niclas
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Niclas is White at 80.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.8%) and Black (7.1%). 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 Niclas 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 Niclas at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.1% · 181
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 20
- Black or African American7.1% · 16
- Two or more races2.2% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 4
Popularity
Niclas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Niclas from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 34 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
Niclas 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 Niclas 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 Niclas
The given name Niclas originated from the Greek name Nikolaos, which was derived from the words "nikē" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people". It was a common name among early Christians, often referring to the Christian symbolism of spiritual victory over evil. The name eventually spread across Europe through the influence of the Orthodox Christian church.
During the Middle Ages, the name took on various spellings across different regions, including Niklas, Niklaus, and Niclas. It was particularly popular in Scandinavia, Germany, and the Low Countries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Niclas can be found in medieval Danish chronicles from the 13th century.
In the 14th century, a German theologian and philosopher named Niclas of Autrecourt (c. 1300-1369) made significant contributions to the field of logic and epistemology. His works challenged the widely accepted principles of Aristotelian philosophy and paved the way for later intellectual movements.
Another notable figure with the name Niclas was Niclas Krutze (c. 1401-1476), a German Renaissance painter and sculptor from Nuremberg. His intricate woodcarvings and altarpieces were highly renowned during his lifetime and can still be found in various churches throughout Germany.
In the 16th century, Niclas Kopernigk (1473-1543), better known as Nicolaus Copernicus, was a Polish Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who revolutionized the scientific understanding of the universe. His heliocentric model, which placed the Sun at the center of the solar system, challenged the long-held geocentric model and laid the foundation for modern astronomy.
During the 17th century, Niclas Poussin (1594-1665) was a prominent French painter who heavily influenced the Baroque and Classicist styles. His works, characterized by their historical and mythological themes, precise draftsmanship, and balanced compositions, earned him widespread acclaim and patronage from the French aristocracy.
In the 18th century, Niclas Lafrensen (1737-1807) was a Swedish painter and engraver known for his intricate and detailed depictions of social life in Paris during the Rococo period. His etchings and engravings captured the opulent fashions and manners of the French aristocracy, providing a valuable visual record of that era.
People
Niclas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Niclas 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
Niclas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Niclas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 78 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Niclas 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 4,394,286 US residents.
Is Niclas a common name?
We classify Niclas as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 80 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Niclas most popular?
The single biggest year for Niclas was 1999, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Niclas is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Niclas in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 226 people with the name Niclas, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,529 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 Niclas 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 Niclas?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Niclas leans strongly male. 227 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.7%). 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 Niclas?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Niclas is White at 80.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.8%) and Black (7.1%). 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 Niclas most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Niclas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.1% (181 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 Niclas in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Niclas a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Niclas 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 Niclas still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Niclas 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 Niclas 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 common is the name Niclas?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.