Nikia
A feminine Greek name meaning "victorious" or "conqueror".
Name Census estimates that about 3,735 living Americans carry the first name Nikia. It is a predominantly female name (93.8% of registrations). The average person named Nikia today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nikia births was 1975 (335 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nikia. 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 Nikia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.7K
~ 1 in 91,768 Americans
Peak year
1975
335 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2007 SSA rank
#13,829
Tracked since 1971
Census
Nikia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,158 people with the first name Nikia, which placed it at #5,447 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
#5,447
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,158 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nikia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nikia is Black at 79.5%. The next largest groups are White (11.1%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Nikia 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 Nikia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.5% · 2,512
- White11.1% · 351
- Two or more races5.3% · 167
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 83
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Nikia
Nikia leans heavily female at 93.8% of total registrations, but 246 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nikia as a male name
- Ranked #13,829 in 2007
- 5 male births in 2007
- Peak: 1975 (63 births)
Nikia as a female name
- Ranked #15,085 in 2019
- 6 female births in 2019
- Peak: 1975 (272 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nikia leans strongly female. 2,953 people counted with this name were female (93.5%), compared with 205 male bearers (6.5%).
Popularity
Nikia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nikia from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,468 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
Nikia 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 Nikia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nikias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. New York, Illinois, Maryland recorded the most babies named Nikia, while Oklahoma, Missouri, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 103 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nikia
The name Nikia is derived from the Greek name Nikias, which has its origins in the ancient Greek word "nike," meaning "victory." This name gained popularity during the classical era of ancient Greece, particularly in the 5th century BC.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Nikias was an Athenian general and statesman who lived from around 470 BC to 413 BC. He is best known for his role in the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, where he led the disastrous Sicilian Expedition, which ultimately led to his capture and execution.
Another notable figure in history with the name Nikia was Nikias of Miletus, a Greek mathematician and philosopher who lived in the 5th century BC. He is credited with discovering the concept of infinite series and the construction of the first curve of constant width, now known as the Reuleaux triangle.
In the realm of literature, the name Nikia appeared in ancient Greek plays and texts. For instance, Nikia was a character in the play "The Frogs" by the renowned playwright Aristophanes, which was first performed in 405 BC.
During the Byzantine era, the name Nikia continued to be used, particularly among Greek Orthodox Christians. One notable individual was Nikias Kallikles, a Byzantine scholar and theologian who lived in the 12th century AD and played a role in the development of Byzantine theology.
In more recent history, Nikia Lazaridi was a Greek filmmaker and screenwriter who lived from 1917 to 2015. She is known for her contributions to the Greek cinema industry, particularly her work in promoting social realism and addressing controversial topics in her films.
It is important to note that while the name Nikia has its roots in ancient Greek, its usage and popularity have varied across different time periods and regions, often influenced by cultural and linguistic factors.
People
Nikia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nikia 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
Nikia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nikia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,735 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nikia 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 91,768 US residents.
Is Nikia a common name?
We classify Nikia as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,973 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nikia most popular?
The single biggest year for Nikia was 1975, when 335 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nikia is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nikia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,158 people with the name Nikia, or 1.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,447 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 Nikia 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 Nikia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nikia leans strongly female. 2,953 people counted with this name were female (93.5%), compared with 205 male bearers (6.5%). 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 Nikia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nikia is Black at 79.5%. The next largest groups are White (11.1%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Nikia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nikia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.5% (2,512 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 Nikia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nikia a female name?
Yes, 93.8% of people registered as Nikia 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 Nikia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nikia 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 Nikia 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 share the name Nikia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.