Nicolo
Masculine name deriving from the Greek Nikolaos, meaning "victor of people".
Name Census estimates that about 1,376 living Americans carry the first name Nicolo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicolo today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicolo births was 2024 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicolo. 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 Nicolo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 249,095 Americans
Peak year
2024
47 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,771
Tracked since 1914
Census
Nicolo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,502 people with the first name Nicolo, which placed it at #9,302 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
#9,302
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,502 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicolo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicolo is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.5%). 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 Nicolo 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 Nicolo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.8% · 1,184
- Hispanic or Latino9.3% · 140
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.5% · 98
- Two or more races4.0% · 60
- Black or African American1.3% · 20
Popularity
Nicolo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicolo from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 355 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Nicolo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nicolo 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 Nicolo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicolos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Nicolo, while Michigan, Massachusetts, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicolo
The name Nicolo originated from the Italian language, derived from the Greek name Nikolaos, which itself comes from the combination of the words "nikê" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people". It emerged as a popular name in Italy during the Middle Ages, around the 12th century.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Nicolo was Nicolo Pisano, also known as Nicola Pisano, an Italian sculptor and architect who lived from around 1220 to 1284. He is renowned for his innovative sculpting techniques and his work on the Cathedral of Siena.
Another notable Nicolo from history was Nicolo Machiavelli, the famous Italian Renaissance philosopher, historian, and writer, born in 1469 and died in 1527. He is best known for his influential political treatise, "The Prince", which provided practical advice for ruling and maintaining power.
In the realm of exploration, Nicolo Zeno, a Venetian navigator and explorer from the 14th century, gained recognition for his travels to the North Atlantic and the islands he discovered, known as the Zeno Islands. His accounts of these voyages were recorded in the "Zeno Narrative".
Nicolo Paganini, born in 1782 and died in 1840, was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest violin virtuosos of all time. His incredible technical skills and innovative playing techniques revolutionized violin performance.
Nicolo Tommaseo, born in 1802 and died in 1874, was an Italian writer, journalist, and linguist who made significant contributions to the Italian language. He is particularly renowned for his work on the "Dizionario della Lingua Italiana", a comprehensive dictionary of the Italian language.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Nicolo, showcasing its rich heritage and the diverse fields in which it has been represented.
People
Nicolo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicolo 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
Nicolo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicolo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,376 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicolo 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 249,095 US residents.
Is Nicolo a common name?
We classify Nicolo as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,524 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicolo most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicolo was 2024, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicolo is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicolo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,502 people with the name Nicolo, or 0.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,302 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 Nicolo 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 Nicolo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicolo leans strongly male. 1,491 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 16 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Nicolo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicolo is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.5%). 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 Nicolo most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nicolo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.8% (1,184 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 Nicolo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicolo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicolo 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 Nicolo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicolo 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 Nicolo 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 Nicolo?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.