Nicklas
A diminutive form of the masculine name Nicholas, meaning "victory of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 2,319 living Americans carry the first name Nicklas. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicklas today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicklas births was 2002 (111 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicklas. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Nicklas with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.3K
~ 1 in 147,803 Americans
Peak year
2002
111 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,476
Tracked since 1914
Census
Nicklas in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,071 people with the first name Nicklas, which placed it at #7,386 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
#7,386
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,071 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicklas
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicklas is White at 80.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Nicklas 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 Nicklas at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.4% · 1,666
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 140
- Two or more races5.4% · 111
- Black or African American4.1% · 84
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 54
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 16
Popularity
Nicklas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicklas from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 724 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nicklas 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 Nicklas during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicklas' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Michigan, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Nicklas, while Wisconsin, New York, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 45 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicklas
The name Nicklas is derived from the Greek name Nikolaos, which is a combination of the words "niko" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people." This name gained popularity during the early days of Christianity, as it was borne by St. Nicholas, the 4th-century bishop of Myra who was renowned for his generosity and kindness.
The name Nicklas is a Scandinavian variation of the name Nicholas, which emerged in the medieval period as a result of the influence of the Christian faith in the region. It was particularly popular in countries like Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, where it was often spelled as Niklas or Nils.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nicklas can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which are a collection of historical narratives written in the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas mention various individuals with the name Nicklas, indicating its widespread use in the region during that time.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Nicklas. One of the most famous was Nicklas Zrinsky (1620-1664), a Croatian nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the wars against the Ottoman Empire. Another prominent figure was Nicklas Wästfeldt (1718-1774), a Swedish botanist and explorer who contributed to the study of plant life in South America.
In the field of arts and literature, Nicklas Müller (1809-1875) was a Danish poet and playwright who wrote numerous works in the Romantic tradition. Nicklas Gottfried Falck (1784-1849) was a Swedish sculptor known for his neoclassical works, including the famous statue of Gustav III in Stockholm.
Nicklas Lidström (born 1970) is a more contemporary example of a notable individual with this name. He is a Swedish professional ice hockey player who spent his entire NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings, winning four Stanley Cups and earning numerous individual accolades.
While the name Nicklas has its roots in ancient Greek and was popularized by the Christian faith, it has endured through the centuries and continues to be used in various parts of the world, particularly in Scandinavia and other regions with strong cultural ties to the region.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Nicklas
People
Nicklas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicklas 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
Nicklas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicklas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,319 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicklas 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 147,803 US residents.
Is Nicklas a common name?
We classify Nicklas as "Rare". It ranks above 94.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,423 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicklas most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicklas was 2002, when 111 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicklas is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicklas in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,071 people with the name Nicklas, or 0.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,386 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 Nicklas 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 Nicklas?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicklas appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,073 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Nicklas?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicklas is White at 80.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.8%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Nicklas most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nicklas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.4% (1,666 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 Nicklas in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicklas a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicklas 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 Nicklas still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicklas 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 Nicklas 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 share the name Nicklas?
You can see how many people have the name Nicklas on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.