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

Nicola, 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 Nicola surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nicola in America

Nicola is the 14991st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nicola surname appeared 1,971 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 Nicola.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nicola 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 Nicola

The surname Nicola is of Italian origin, specifically from the regions of Campania and Basilicata in southern Italy. It has its roots in the ancient Greek name "Nikolaos," which means "victory of the people." The name was later Latinized to "Nicolaus" during the Roman era.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Nicola can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Cavensis, a medieval cartulary from the Abbazia della Santissima Trinità di Cava de' Tirreni in Campania, dating back to the 11th century. The name also appears in various historical documents from the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Venice.

In the 13th century, a notable figure bearing the surname Nicola was Nicola Pisano (c. 1220-1284), an Italian sculptor and architect who played a crucial role in the Renaissance of Italian sculpture. His most famous work is the pulpit in the Baptistery of Pisa, which he completed in 1260.

Another prominent individual with the surname Nicola was Giovanni Battista Nicola (1510-1588), an Italian painter and architect from Campania. He is best known for his frescoes in the churches of Naples and the surrounding areas.

In the 18th century, Pietro Nicola (1728-1808) was an Italian architect and engineer from Basilicata. He is renowned for his work on the Royal Palace of Caserta, one of the largest palaces erected in Europe during the 18th century.

During the 19th century, Costantino Nicola (1810-1877) was an Italian botanist and explorer from Campania. He conducted extensive research on the flora of southern Italy and is credited with discovering several new plant species.

Another notable figure was Antonio Nicola (1858-1927), an Italian politician and lawyer from Basilicata. He served as a member of the Italian Parliament and was a prominent advocate for the rights of workers and farmers in southern Italy.

The surname Nicola has also been associated with various place names, such as the town of Nicola di Cossano in the province of Salerno, Campania, and the village of Nicola in the province of Potenza, Basilicata.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nicola

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

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 Nicola 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 Nicola 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 Nicola was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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