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

Nicols, 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 Nicols surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nicols in America

Nicols is the 44270th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nicols surname appeared 486 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Nicols.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nicols 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 Nicols

The surname Nicols is of English origin, deriving from the medieval given name Nicholas, itself from the Greek name Nikolaos. This name is comprised of the Greek elements niko, meaning "victory" and laos, meaning "people." The earliest known record of the Nicols surname dates back to the late 12th century in County Lancashire.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest, there are several entries for individuals bearing the name Nicholas or its variations. These include Nicholaus de Steinfeld in Sussex and Nicholas de Hulle in Buckinghamshire. While not explicitly recorded as surnames, these entries suggest the name's prevalence in England even before the adoption of hereditary surnames.

The Nicols surname has several notable early bearers. One of the earliest was Sir Nicholas Bacon (1510-1579), an English politician and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal under Queen Elizabeth I. Another was Sir Nicholas Carew (1496-1539), a courtier and diplomat who served as a member of King Henry VIII's Privy Council.

In Scotland, the Nicolson family traced their lineage to the 12th century, with one of the earliest known bearers being Richard Nicolson, who was granted lands in Roxburghshire in 1165. Notable members of this family include William Nicolson (1655-1727), an English bishop and antiquarian, and Nigel Nicolson (1917-2004), a writer and biographer.

The Nicols surname has also been present in Ireland, where it is thought to have arrived with English settlers during the Norman conquest and subsequent plantations. One notable Irish bearer was Francis Nicholson (1655-1728), a military officer and colonial administrator who served as Governor of several British colonies in America, including Virginia and Nova Scotia.

Throughout history, the surname has undergone various spellings, including Nichols, Nicholls, Nicolson, and Nicholson. These variations often reflected regional or cultural influences. Despite this diversity in spelling, the core meaning and origin of the surname have remained consistent, tracing back to the Greek name Nicholas and its connotations of victory and people.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nicols

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

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

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

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