How Many People Are Named Nicholas?
people named Nicholas are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 405 people in the US has this name
Based on 929,199 babies named Nicholas in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
⭐⭐ Common
Peak Year
29,216 births
Trend
Declining (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
From the Greek name Νικολαος (Nikolaos) which meant "victory of the people" from Greek νικη (nike) "victory" and λαος (laos) "people". Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century bishop from Anatolia who, according to legend, saved the daughters of a poor man from lives of prostitution. He is the patron saint of children, sailors and merchants, as well as Greece and Russia. He formed the basis for the figure known as Santa Claus (created in the 19th century from Dutch Sinterklaas), the bringer of Christmas presents.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Same Sound, Other Spellings
These names are pronounced like Nicholas in English. Counting Nicholas and these spellings together, about 877,707 people alive in the US have the name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Nicholas (99.7%) were boys.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Nicholas alive today is about 32 years old, and 52% are between 30 and 59. Half of them were between 23 and 40 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Nicholas first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1995, to 29,216 babies. In 2025, 3,123 babies got the name. Over the last ten years, the number each year has been falling.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Nicholas reached #5 among boys' names in 1999, and was in the top 10 for 10 years, 1993 to 2002. In 2025 it ranked #112.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #112 |
| Best rank | #5 (1999) |
| Years in the top 10 | 10 |
| Years in the top 100 | 51 (1972 to 2022) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #6 in the 1990s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Nicholas alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Nicholas were born in California than in any other state: about 92,302 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Nicholas was given 1.9 times as often in Rhode Island, 1.7 times in Connecticut and 1.7 times in New Jersey.
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