2000
#13,628
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,042
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.76
Rare Last name
Nicolai
A patronymic surname derived from the given name Nicholas, meaning "victory of the people."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,155 Americans carry the last name Nicolai. That puts it at #15,076 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.63 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 159,051 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Nicolai surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.2K
1 in 159,051
Census rank
#15,076
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,879 bearers of the surname Nicolai in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.63 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15076th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Nicolai, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (8.5%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Nicolai
The surname NICOLAI originated in Italy during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the medieval Italian given name Nicola, a variant of the name Nicholas which stems from the Greek name Nikolaos, meaning "victory of the people". The name Nicola was quite popular in Italy during this period.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname NICOLAI can be found in Italian birth records and tax rolls from the 13th and 14th centuries, particularly in the regions of Tuscany and Lombardy. In these early records, the name appeared with various spellings such as Nicolaj, Nicolay, and Nicholay.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname NICOLAI was Bartolomeo Nicolai, a wealthy merchant from Florence who lived in the late 13th century. Records show that he owned several textile factories and was heavily involved in the city's prosperous wool trade.
In the 15th century, the name NICOLAI gained prominence through the work of Tommaso Nicolai, a renowned Italian physician and philosopher from Siena. Born in 1412, he authored numerous medical texts and served as the personal physician to Pope Pius II.
The NICOLAI surname also has ties to the Italian Renaissance. Giovan Battista Nicolai, born in 1546 in Venice, was a celebrated architect who designed several notable churches and palaces throughout Italy, including the Church of San Gregorio Armeno in Naples.
Another prominent figure with the NICOLAI surname was Cristoforo Nicolai, a 17th-century Italian composer and organist from Piacenza. He wrote numerous sacred works and served as the Kapellmeister at the court of the Duke of Modena.
In the 18th century, Antonio Nicolai, born in 1712 in Rome, became a renowned painter and engraver. His works were highly sought after by the Italian nobility, and several of his paintings can still be found in museums across Europe.
While the NICOLAI surname originated in Italy, it eventually spread to other parts of Europe, particularly to neighboring countries like Switzerland and Austria. However, the name's roots can be traced back to its Italian beginnings during the medieval and Renaissance periods.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicolai
Among Census respondents with the surname Nicolai, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (8.5%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Nicolai bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Nicolai surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.2% · 1,563
- American Indian and Alaska Native8.5% · 160
- Two or more races3.9% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 66
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 12
- Black or African American0.3% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Nicolai
Nicolai appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#14,734
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,017
-25 bearers (-1.2%)
Per 100,000 0.68
Rank movement Down 1,106 places
2020
#15,076
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,879
-138 bearers (-6.8%)
Per 100,000 0.63
Rank movement Down 342 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,628 | 2,042 | 0.76 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,734 | 2,017 | 0.68 | -25 bearers (-1.2%) | Down 1,106 places |
| 2020 | #15,076 | 1,879 | 0.63 | -138 bearers (-6.8%) | Down 342 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Nicolai surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #14,734 | #15,076 | -2.3% |
| Count | 2,017 | 1,879 | -6.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.68 | 0.63 | -7.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Nicolai bearers went from 2,017 to 1,879 (-6.8% change). The surname moved down 342 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,734 to #15,076.
FAQ
Nicolai surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Nicolai?
Name Census estimates that about 2,155 living Americans carry the surname Nicolai. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 159,051 residents.
How common is Nicolai?
Nicolai ranks #15,076 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.63 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,879 people with the surname Nicolai. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,155), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.63 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.63 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Nicolai.
Has Nicolai become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Nicolai went from 2,017 recorded bearers to 1,879. That is a decrease of 138 (-6.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #14,734 to #15,076.
What does the Census say about the background of Nicolai?
Among Census respondents with the surname Nicolai, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (8.5%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Nicolai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.2% (1,563 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Nicolai appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.2%), American Indian/Alaska Native (8.5%), Two or More Races (3.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Nicolai (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Nicolai mean?
A patronymic surname derived from the given name Nicholas, meaning "victory of the people." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Nicolai (0.63 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Nicolai?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Nicolai is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.