Nicanor
Victor or conqueror, a Greek name of ancient origins.
Name Census estimates that about 639 living Americans carry the first name Nicanor. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicanor today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicanor births was 1982 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicanor. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
639
~ 1 in 536,392 Americans
Peak year
1982
20 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,475
Tracked since 1913
Census
Nicanor in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,881 people with the first name Nicanor, which placed it at #7,877 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,877
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,881 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicanor
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicanor is Hispanic at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.8%) and White (2.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Nicanor 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Nicanor at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino67.1% · 1,263
- Asian and Pacific Islander27.8% · 523
- White2.8% · 52
- Black or African American1.8% · 33
- Two or more races0.4% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Popularity
Nicanor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicanor from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 117 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nicanor by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Nicanor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicanors live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicanor
The name Nicanor has its origins in Ancient Greek, derived from the words "nikē" meaning "victory" and "anēr" meaning "man". It was a relatively common name among Greek men during the classical period of ancient Greece and the Hellenistic era that followed.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Nicanor was a general serving under Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. He played a role in several of Alexander's military campaigns and conquests across the Persian Empire. The name is also mentioned in the Book of Maccabees, part of the Old Testament, referring to a Syrian commander named Nicanor who fought against the Maccabees in the 2nd century BC.
During the Byzantine Empire, the name remained in use, though not as widespread as in earlier periods. A notable figure was Nicanor, a 7th century AD theologian and scholar who authored works on various religious topics. Another Nicanor was a 9th century AD Byzantine admiral who led naval forces against Arab raiders in the Mediterranean.
In the medieval period, the name saw some use in Western Europe, particularly in areas influenced by Greek culture and language. One example is Nicanor, a 12th century AD monk and scribe from Italy who produced several illuminated manuscripts.
As the Renaissance period dawned, the name experienced a minor revival, though it remained relatively uncommon. Nicanor Parra, a Chilean poet and mathematician born in 1914, is one of the more famous modern bearers of the name. He is considered one of the founders of anti-poetry and received numerous accolades for his literary works before passing away in 2018.
Other notable individuals named Nicanor throughout history include Nicanor Abelardo, a 19th century Spanish painter; Nicanor Bolet Peraza, a Puerto Rican poet and journalist from the early 20th century; and Nicanor Parra Sandoval, a 19th century Chilean politician who served as interim President of Chile for a brief period in 1876.
People
Nicanor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicanor as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nicanor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicanor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 639 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicanor going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 536,392 US residents.
Is Nicanor a common name?
We classify Nicanor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 787 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicanor most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicanor was 1982, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicanor is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicanor in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,881 people with the name Nicanor, or 0.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,877 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Nicanor in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Nicanor?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicanor leans strongly male. 1,861 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 21 female bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Nicanor?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicanor is Hispanic at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.8%) and White (2.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Nicanor most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nicanor in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (1,263 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Nicanor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicanor a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicanor in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Nicanor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicanor in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Nicanor can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Nicanor?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.