Nicoy
A word of Spanish origin meaning "triumphant" or "victorious".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Nicoy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicoy today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicoy births was 2011 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicoy. 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 Nicoy with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Nicoy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2011
5 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2011 SSA rank
#13,750
Tracked since 2011
Popularity
Nicoy: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Nicoy 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 Nicoy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicoy
The name Nicoy is a variation of the name Nicholas, which has its origins in the Greek language. It is derived from the Greek words "nikos" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people." The name has been in use since ancient times and has a rich history spanning various cultures and eras.
One of the earliest known references to the name Nicholas can be found in the Bible's New Testament, where it is mentioned as the name of a proselyte from Antioch. In Christian tradition, Saint Nicholas, who lived in the 4th century, is perhaps the most well-known figure associated with this name. He was a bishop of Myra, a city in modern-day Turkey, and was renowned for his generosity and kindness towards children, which led to his association with gift-giving and the modern-day Santa Claus tradition.
The name Nicoy gained popularity in various parts of Europe during the Middle Ages. It was particularly common in regions such as France, Italy, and Spain, where it was often spelled as Niccolò or Nicolás, respectively. One notable figure from this period was Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), the famous Italian philosopher and political theorist whose works, such as "The Prince," have had a lasting impact on Western political thought.
During the Renaissance era, the name Nicoy continued to be widely used across Europe. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the Polish astronomer who proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system, which challenged the prevailing geocentric model of the time.
In the 19th century, the name Nicoy gained traction in parts of Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia. One notable figure from this period was Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852), the renowned Russian novelist and playwright known for his works such as "Dead Souls" and "The Overcoat."
Another prominent individual with the name Nicoy was Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), the Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer who made groundbreaking contributions to the development of modern electricity and is best known for his work on alternating current (AC) systems and the Tesla coil.
Nicoy has also been used as a first name in various other cultures and regions throughout history, although it is more commonly seen as a variation of Nicholas or Nicolás in most parts of the world.
People
Nicoy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicoy 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
Nicoy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicoy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicoy 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Nicoy a common name?
We classify Nicoy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicoy most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicoy was 2011, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicoy is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Nicoy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicoy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicoy 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 Nicoy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicoy 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 Nicoy 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Nicoy as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.