Nicholas

What Nicholas means

Means “victory + people”

From Middle English Nicholas, from Old French Nicholas, from Latin Nīcolāus, from Ancient Greek Νικόλαος (Nikólaos), from νίκη (níkē, “victory”) +‎ λαός (laós, “people”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Nicholas” (revision 94542075), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Nicholas?

US: Falling: down from #62 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #140 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1995, when 29,160 boys got the name (#7 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 548 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,162 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 893 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in RI (5.12 per 1,000 boys), NJ (4.83 per 1,000 boys), DE (4.75 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Nicholas is #112 in the US and #214 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.7% of US babies named Nicholas were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Nicholaus5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Nicolas
• Nickolas
• Nikolas

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

Nicknames

• Cole
• Nick
• Nicko
• Nicky
• Nico
• Kolya

Listed on Wiktionary under “pet forms”.

If you like Nicholas

Boys

• Zachary#216“Yahweh has remembered”^*
• Andrew#73“manly”^*
• Alex#232Short form of Alexandra, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*
• Steven#271“crown, wreath”^*
• Dennis#707“follower of (the wine god) Dionysus”^*

For a sister

• Alexandra#237“to defend + man”^*
• Kathryn#729Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Karina#749Form of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Alexandria#474Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #212 in 2015, #474 in 2025
• Nancy#965Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #78 vs #965 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Nicholas’s. Rank is US 2025.