Nicol
Variant of the feminine name Nicole, from the Greek name Nikolaos meaning "victorious people".
Name Census estimates that about 2,074 living Americans carry the first name Nicol. It is a predominantly female name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Nicol today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicol births was 1970 (130 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicol. 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 Nicol with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 165,262 Americans
Peak year
1970
130 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1973 SSA rank
#4,374
Tracked since 1956
Census
Nicol in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,777 people with the first name Nicol, which placed it at #5,932 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
#5,932
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,777 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
42.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nicol
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicol is White at 42.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (41.6%) and Black (11.3%). 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 Nicol 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 Nicol at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White42.7% · 1,186
- Hispanic or Latino41.6% · 1,155
- Black or African American11.3% · 313
- Two or more races2.2% · 60
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Nicol
Nicol leans heavily female at 98.7% of total registrations, but 28 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nicol as a male name
- Ranked #4,374 in 1973
- 7 male births in 1973
- Peak: 1973 (7 births)
Nicol as a female name
- Ranked #5,724 in 2024
- 22 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1970 (125 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicol leans strongly female. 2,609 people counted with this name were female (94.0%), compared with 166 male bearers (6.0%).
Popularity
Nicol: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicol from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 826 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nicol 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 Nicol during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicols live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Nicol, while Minnesota, Indiana, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 54 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicol
The name Nicol is derived from the Greek name Nikolaos, which is a combination of the words "nikan" meaning "to conquer" and "laos" meaning "people." This name originated in the 4th century BC and gained popularity due to its association with St. Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint known for his generosity and kindness towards children.
The name Nicol has been used throughout history in various cultures and regions. In the Middle Ages, it was commonly used in Western Europe, particularly in France, where it was spelled as "Nicole." One of the earliest recorded examples of this name is Nicole de Lorraine, a 13th-century noblewoman and the daughter of Duke Frederick II of Lorraine.
In the Byzantine Empire, the name Nikolaos was widely used, and several notable historical figures bore this name. One of the most famous was Nikolaos Mystikos, a 9th-century Patriarch of Constantinople who played a significant role in the theological debates of his time.
During the Renaissance period, the name Nicol gained popularity in Italy, where it was often spelled as "Niccolò." One of the most renowned individuals with this name was Niccolò Machiavelli, the famous 16th-century political philosopher and author of the influential work "The Prince."
In Scotland, the name Nicol was commonly used as a variant of Nicholas. Sir Nicol Kerdif, who lived in the 14th century, was a Scottish knight and ambassador who played a crucial role in negotiating the Treaty of Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1357.
Another notable figure with the name Nicol was Nicol Maffre, a 16th-century French mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the development of trigonometry and the study of celestial bodies.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Nicol
People
Nicol + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicol 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
Nicol: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicol?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,074 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicol 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 165,262 US residents.
Is Nicol a common name?
We classify Nicol as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,231 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicol most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicol was 1970, when 130 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicol is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nicol in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,777 people with the name Nicol, or 0.92 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,932 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 Nicol 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 Nicol?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nicol leans strongly female. 2,609 people counted with this name were female (94.0%), compared with 166 male bearers (6.0%). 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 Nicol?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nicol is White at 42.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (41.6%) and Black (11.3%). 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 Nicol most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nicol in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.7% (1,186 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 Nicol in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nicol a female name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Nicol in the SSA data are female. 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 Nicol still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nicol 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 Nicol 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 are called Nicol?
You can see how many people have the name Nicol on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.