Nicodemus
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "conqueror of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 1,052 living Americans carry the first name Nicodemus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicodemus today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicodemus births was 2022 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicodemus. 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 Nicodemus with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 325,812 Americans
Peak year
2022
48 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,360
Tracked since 1924
Census
Nicodemus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 878 people with the first name Nicodemus, which placed it at #13,660 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
#13,660
National first-name rank
People counted
878
878 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicodemus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicodemus is White at 39.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.5%) and Black (18.7%). 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 Nicodemus 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 Nicodemus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.1% · 343
- Hispanic or Latino23.5% · 206
- Black or African American18.7% · 164
- Two or more races9.5% · 83
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.6% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 24
Popularity
Nicodemus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicodemus from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 303 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nicodemus remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nicodemus 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 Nicodemus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicodemus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Nicodemus, while New York, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicodemus
The name Nicodemus has its origins in the Greek language and culture. It is derived from the Greek words "nikos" meaning "victory" and "demos" meaning "people". The name is a compound word that can be translated to mean "victory of the people" or "conquering the masses".
Nicodemus is a name that appears in the New Testament of the Bible. He was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council who is mentioned in the Gospel of John. According to the biblical account, Nicodemus visited Jesus at night to learn more about his teachings, and later assisted Joseph of Arimathea in burying Jesus after his crucifixion.
The earliest recorded use of the name Nicodemus dates back to the 1st century AD, likely inspired by the biblical figure. Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne this name.
One of the most famous bearers of the name was Nicodemus, a 5th-century saint and scholar from Brittany in northwestern France. He lived from around 420 to 530 AD and was known for his devotion to Christianity and his writings on theology and philosophy.
Another notable Nicodemus was Nicodemus Frischlin, a German scholar, poet, and satirist who lived from 1547 to 1590. He was known for his satirical plays and poems that criticized the religious and political establishment of his time.
In the 17th century, Nicodemus Tessin the Elder (1615-1681) was a Swedish architect and designer who is best known for his work on the Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm.
Nicodemus Tessin the Younger (1654-1728) was the son of Nicodemus Tessin the Elder and also a renowned architect in Sweden. He is particularly famous for designing the Royal Palace in Stockholm.
Another historical figure with the name Nicodemus was Nicodemus Frischlin (1590-1668), a German composer and musician who lived during the Baroque era.
People
Nicodemus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicodemus 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
Nicodemus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicodemus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,052 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicodemus 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 325,812 US residents.
Is Nicodemus a common name?
We classify Nicodemus as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,075 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicodemus most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicodemus was 2022, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicodemus is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicodemus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 878 people with the name Nicodemus, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,660 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 Nicodemus 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 Nicodemus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicodemus appears almost entirely male. Of the 876 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 Nicodemus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicodemus is White at 39.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.5%) and Black (18.7%). 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 Nicodemus most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nicodemus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.1% (343 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 Nicodemus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicodemus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicodemus 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 Nicodemus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicodemus 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 Nicodemus 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 are named Nicodemus?
Find out how many people have the name Nicodemus on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.