Nicholus
The Greek name meaning "victorious people".
Name Census estimates that about 725 living Americans carry the first name Nicholus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicholus today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicholus births was 1978 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicholus. 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
725
~ 1 in 472,765 Americans
Peak year
1978
47 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2015 SSA rank
#11,686
Tracked since 1963
Census
Nicholus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 581 people with the first name Nicholus, which placed it at #18,526 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
#18,526
National first-name rank
People counted
581
581 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicholus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicholus is White at 62.3%. The next largest groups are Black (21.0%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Nicholus 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 Nicholus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.3% · 362
- Black or African American21.0% · 122
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 56
- Two or more races4.0% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 4
Popularity
Nicholus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicholus from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 260 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
Nicholus 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 Nicholus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicholus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Nicholus, while Georgia, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicholus
The name Nicholus has its origins in the Greek language, deriving from the words "nike" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people." It can be traced back to ancient Greece and the 4th century BC. The name's earliest known spelling was "Nikolaos," which later evolved into the Latin form "Nicolaus" and then into various European spellings such as "Nicholas," "Nicolas," and "Nicholus."
One of the earliest historical references to the name Nicholus can be found in the New Testament of the Bible. Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop from Myra (modern-day Turkey), was known for his generosity and kindness towards children. He became the inspiration for the popular Christmas tradition of Santa Claus. Another notable bearer of the name was Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), a German philosopher, theologian, and astronomer who made significant contributions to the Renaissance.
During the Middle Ages, the name Nicholus gained popularity across Europe, particularly in England and France. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is Nicholas Breakspear (c. 1100-1159), who became Pope Adrian IV in 1154, and was the only Englishman to hold the papacy.
In the 16th century, Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), the Polish astronomer who proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system, made a significant impact on the field of astronomy. His groundbreaking work challenged the geocentric model and paved the way for modern astronomy.
Another renowned bearer of the name Nicholus was Nicholas Flamel (c. 1330-1418), a French scribe and manuscript-seller who has been associated with legends of alchemy and the philosopher's stone. His reputed ability to turn base metals into gold has captured the imagination of many writers and alchemists throughout history.
People
Nicholus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicholus 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
Nicholus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicholus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 725 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicholus 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 472,765 US residents.
Is Nicholus a common name?
We classify Nicholus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 755 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicholus most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicholus was 1978, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicholus is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicholus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 581 people with the name Nicholus, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,526 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 Nicholus 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 Nicholus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicholus appears almost entirely male. Of the 578 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Nicholus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicholus is White at 62.3%. The next largest groups are Black (21.0%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Nicholus most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nicholus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.3% (362 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 Nicholus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicholus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicholus 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 Nicholus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicholus 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 Nicholus 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 Americans are named Nicholus?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Nicholus at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.