Nixon
A masculine English name referring to the son of Nicholas.
Name Census estimates that about 7,369 living Americans carry the first name Nixon. It is a predominantly male name (95.6% of registrations). The average person named Nixon today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nixon births was 2017 (638 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nixon. 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 Nixon with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Nixon is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 331 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Nixon is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
7.4K
~ 1 in 46,513 Americans
Peak year
2017
638 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#873
Tracked since 1917
Census
Nixon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,611 people with the first name Nixon, which placed it at #3,241 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
#3,241
National first-name rank
People counted
6.6K
6,611 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nixon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nixon is White at 51.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.5%) and Black (9.0%). 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 Nixon 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 Nixon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.1% · 3,379
- Hispanic or Latino26.5% · 1,751
- Black or African American9.0% · 598
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.8% · 513
- Two or more races5.2% · 346
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 24
Gender
Gender distribution for Nixon
Nixon leans heavily male at 95.6% of total registrations, but 331 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nixon as a male name
- Ranked #873 in 2024
- 275 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (607 births)
Nixon as a female name
- Ranked #10,828 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (35 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nixon leans strongly male. 6,351 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 267 female bearers (4.0%).
Popularity
Nixon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nixon from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,680 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nixon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nixon 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 Nixon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nixons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. California, Utah, Texas recorded the most babies named Nixon, while New Mexico, Wyoming, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 142 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nixon
The given name Nixon has its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "nic," meaning "victory," and "sunu," meaning "son." Thus, the name Nixon can be interpreted as "son of victory" or "victorious son."
The earliest recorded instances of the name Nixon can be traced back to the 11th century, with mentions in historical records and parish registers from various parts of England. One of the earliest known individuals with the name was Nixon de Waddington, who lived in Yorkshire, England, in the late 12th century.
Throughout history, the name Nixon has been associated with various notable figures. In the 14th century, there was Sir Nicholas Nixon, a prominent English knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. Another historical figure was John Nixon, an English Protestant martyr who was burned at the stake in 1555 during the Marian Persecutions under Queen Mary I.
During the American Revolutionary War, John Nixon was a prominent military officer who served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army. He is best known for his role in the crossing of the Delaware River and the subsequent Battle of Trenton in 1776, where he led the vanguard of George Washington's forces.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Nixon was Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, who served from 1969 to 1974. Born in 1913 in Yorba Linda, California, he is remembered for his involvement in the Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to his resignation from the presidency.
Another notable individual was Cynthia Nixon, an American actress born in 1966, best known for her role as Miranda Hobbes in the popular television series "Sex and the City." She has also appeared in numerous films and stage productions, and has been an advocate for various social and political causes.
The name Nixon has a rich historical background, with its roots in Old English and a notable presence throughout different periods and cultures. While its origins may be rooted in the concept of "victory," the name has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions, leaving their mark on history in various ways.
People
Nixon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nixon 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
Nixon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nixon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,369 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nixon 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 46,513 US residents.
Is Nixon a common name?
We classify Nixon as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,508 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nixon most popular?
The single biggest year for Nixon was 2017, when 638 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nixon is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nixon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,611 people with the name Nixon, or 2.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,241 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 Nixon 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 Nixon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nixon leans strongly male. 6,351 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 267 female bearers (4.0%). 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 Nixon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nixon is White at 51.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.5%) and Black (9.0%). 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 Nixon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nixon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.1% (3,379 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 Nixon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nixon a male name?
Yes, 95.6% of people registered as Nixon 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 Nixon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nixon 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 Nixon 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 named Nixon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.