Find out how popular the last name Nickle is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Nickle.

Nickle, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Nickle surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nickle in America

Nickle is the 13834th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nickle surname appeared 2,185 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Nickle.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nickle to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Nickle

The surname Nickle is believed to have originated in Germany and parts of Eastern Europe in the late medieval period. It is derived from the German word "Nickel," which means "demon," "goblin," or "sprite." This suggests that the name may have been given as a nickname to someone with a mischievous or impish nature.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the 14th century in the German city of Nürnberg, where a Konrad Nickele is mentioned in a local chronicle from 1376. The name is also found in various spellings, such as Nickel, Nickell, and Nickolls, in various regions of Germany and surrounding areas during this time.

In England, the name Nickle is believed to have been introduced by German immigrants in the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the earliest known bearers of the name in England was Johann Nickle, a merchant from Hamburg who settled in London in the late 16th century.

Notable figures with the surname Nickle include:

1. Johann Evangelista Nickle (1705-1782), a German composer and musician who served as the court Kapellmeister in Kassel.
2. Wilhelm Nickle (1829-1896), a German-American artist and lithographer known for his landscape paintings and depictions of the American West.
3. Edith Nickle (1870-1948), an American educator and advocate for women's rights, who served as the first female president of Hunter College in New York City.
4. Hans Nickle (1895-1976), a Swiss chemist and inventor who developed the process for manufacturing synthetic rubber during World War II.
5. Friedrich Nickle (1920-2005), a German-born American theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to the study of quantum electrodynamics and the renormalization of field theories.

Throughout its history, the surname Nickle has undergone various spellings and variations, reflecting its journey across different regions and languages. While originating in German-speaking areas, the name has since spread to other parts of Europe and beyond, carried by migration and cultural exchange.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nickle

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Nickle.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Nickle was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Nickle has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Nickle was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Nickle, please contact us.

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