Nicolaus
Victor of the people, a masculine name of Greek origin.
Name Census estimates that about 1,109 living Americans carry the first name Nicolaus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicolaus today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicolaus births was 1998 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicolaus. 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.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 309,066 Americans
Peak year
1998
47 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,716
Tracked since 1971
Census
Nicolaus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,003 people with the first name Nicolaus, which placed it at #12,411 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
#12,411
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,003 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicolaus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicolaus is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.6%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Nicolaus 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 Nicolaus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.3% · 675
- Hispanic or Latino16.6% · 166
- Black or African American7.9% · 79
- Two or more races4.9% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 9
Popularity
Nicolaus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicolaus from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 374 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
Nicolaus 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 Nicolaus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicolaus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Nicolaus, while Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicolaus
The given name Nicolaus has its origins in the Greek language, derived from the combination of the words "niko" (meaning victory) and "laos" (meaning people). It emerged during the Hellenistic period of ancient Greece, around the 3rd century BCE. The name was initially popularized in the regions of the Greek world, including mainland Greece, Asia Minor, and parts of the Mediterranean.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nicolaus appears in the New Testament of the Bible, where it refers to a proselyte from Antioch who became a disciple of Jesus Christ. This biblical reference likely contributed to the name's subsequent spread and adoption within the Christian world.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nicolaus. One of the most famous was Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the renowned Polish astronomer who revolutionized our understanding of the universe by proposing the heliocentric model, which placed the Sun at the center of the solar system.
Another prominent figure was Nicolaus of Damascus (born around 64 BCE), a Greek historian and philosopher who served as an advisor to several Roman emperors, including Augustus and Herod the Great.
In the realm of mathematics, Nicolaus Chuquet (c. 1445-1500) was a French mathematician and the first to use the modern algebraic notation for exponents. His work laid the foundation for subsequent advancements in the field.
The name Nicolaus was also borne by Nicolaus of Cusa (1401-1464), a German philosopher, theologian, and cardinal of the Catholic Church, who made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy.
Another notable figure was Nicolaus Steno (1638-1686), a Danish scientist and pioneer in the field of geology, who is often referred to as the "father of stratigraphy" for his groundbreaking work on the principles of rock formation.
These examples showcase the diverse backgrounds and achievements of individuals who shared the name Nicolaus throughout history, spanning various fields, including science, philosophy, religion, and more.
People
Nicolaus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicolaus 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
Nicolaus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicolaus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,109 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicolaus 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 309,066 US residents.
Is Nicolaus a common name?
We classify Nicolaus as "Rare". It ranks above 90.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,141 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicolaus most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicolaus was 1998, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicolaus is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicolaus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,003 people with the name Nicolaus, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,411 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 Nicolaus 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 Nicolaus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicolaus appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,003 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Nicolaus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicolaus is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.6%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Nicolaus most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nicolaus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.3% (675 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 Nicolaus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicolaus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicolaus 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 Nicolaus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicolaus 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 Nicolaus 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 Nicolaus?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.