Nico

What Nico means

Diminutive of Nicholas, meaning “victory + people”

diminutive of the male given name Nicholas || 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, “Nico” (revision 93743808) and “Nicholas” (revision 94542075), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Nico?

US: Rising: up from #464 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #287 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 2,066 boys got the name (#174 that year). First in the US records in 1960.

How common

• About 1 in 827 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 889 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 293 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 DC (5.94 per 1,000 boys), VT (4.13 per 1,000 boys), RI (3.84 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Nico is #174 in the US and #165 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 98.6% of US babies named Nico 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

• Niko1,046 US · 61 E&W
• Nikko147 US
• Neko34 US
• Neiko26 US
• Nicky8 US · 5 E&W
• Neco0 US · 13 E&W
• Nyko10 US
• Nikoa9 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.

If you like Nico

Boys

• Brooks#64Variant of Brook, meaning “swamp, marsh”^*
• Theo#82Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #405 in 2015, #82 in 2025
• Felix#175“happy, lucky”^*
• Waylon#56Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #222 in 2015, #56 in 2025
• Beau#60Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #203 in 2015, #60 in 2025
• Otto#277“wealth, riches”^*

For a sister

• Aurelia#290“golden”^*
• Iris#61“rainbow”^*
• Mabel#201“lovable”^*
• Esther#119“star”^*
• Elsie#123Diminutive of Alison, meaning “of noble kind”^*
• Catalina#111Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #325 in 2015, #111 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Nico’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.