Nicola
Of Greek origin, meaning "victory of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 6,834 living Americans carry the first name Nicola. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Nicola today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicola births was 1972 (236 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicola. 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 Nicola with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Nicola sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
6.8K
~ 1 in 50,154 Americans
Peak year
1972
236 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,361
Tracked since 1908
Census
Nicola in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,712 people with the first name Nicola, which placed it at #2,113 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
#2,113
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,712 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicola
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicola is White at 72.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.7%) and Hispanic (5.1%). 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 Nicola 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 Nicola at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.6% · 9,224
- Black or African American16.7% · 2,119
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 647
- Two or more races3.8% · 487
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 195
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 40
Gender
Gender distribution for Nicola
Nicola is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 8,047 total registrations, 2,981 (37.0%) were male and 5,066 (63.0%) were female.
Nicola as a male name
- Ranked #3,361 in 2024
- 35 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1972 (53 births)
Nicola as a female name
- Ranked #7,470 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1972 (183 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nicola on both sides of the split. Of the 12,714 people counted with this name, 4,032 were male (31.7%) and 8,682 were female (68.3%).
Popularity
Nicola: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicola from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,761 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nicola 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 Nicola during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicolas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Nicola, while Utah, Missouri, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 128 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicola
Nicola is a given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word "Nikolaos," which means "victor of the people." It has been a popular name across Europe and the Mediterranean region for centuries.
The name first appeared in ancient Greek texts and was associated with several saints and historical figures. One of the most notable was Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop from modern-day Turkey, who became the inspiration for the legendary figure of Santa Claus.
In the Middle Ages, the name gained popularity in Italy, where it was commonly spelled "Niccolò" or "Nicola." One of the earliest recorded examples of the name was Niccolò Pisano (c. 1220-1284), an Italian sculptor and architect who is considered a pioneer of the Renaissance style.
During the Renaissance, the name was associated with several prominent figures, including Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), the renowned Italian philosopher and political theorist, and Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), the virtuoso violinist and composer.
In the 19th century, the name became popular in other parts of Europe, including Russia, where it was often spelled "Nikolai." One of the most famous Russian bearers of the name was Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852), the celebrated writer and playwright.
Other notable figures throughout history who bore the name Nicola include Nicola Porpora (1686-1768), an Italian composer and teacher who taught several famous composers, including Joseph Haydn; Nicola Zingarelli (1752-1837), an Italian composer and music theorist; and Nicola Sacco (1891-1927), an Italian-American anarchist who was controversially executed for murder in 1927.
In the 20th century, the name continued to be popular, particularly in Italy and other parts of Europe. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Nicola Abbagnano (1901-1990), an Italian philosopher and existentialist.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Nicola
People
Nicola + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicola 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
Nicola: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicola?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,834 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicola 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 50,154 US residents.
Is Nicola a common name?
We classify Nicola as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,047 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicola most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicola was 1972, when 236 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicola is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicola in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,712 people with the name Nicola, or 4.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,113 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 Nicola 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 Nicola?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nicola on both sides of the split. Of the 12,714 people counted with this name, 4,032 were male (31.7%) and 8,682 were female (68.3%). 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 Nicola?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicola is White at 72.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.7%) and Hispanic (5.1%). 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 Nicola most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nicola in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.6% (9,224 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 Nicola in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicola a female name?
Yes, 63.0% of people registered as Nicola in the SSA data are female. 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 Nicola still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicola 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 Nicola 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 Nicola?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.