Nicole

What Nicole means

Form of Nicholas, meaning “victory + people”

feminine form of Nicolas || 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, “Nicole” (revision 93750444) and “Nicholas” (revision 94542075), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Nicole?

US: Falling: down from #154 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #162 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1983, when 22,400 girls got the name (#7 that year). First in the US records in 1937.

How common

• About 1 in 2,002 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,558 baby girls in England and Wales 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 FL (1.09 per 1,000 girls), NM (1.07 per 1,000 girls), IL (1.06 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Nicole is #382 in the US and #412 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Nicole were girls.

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

• Nicolle65 US · 3 E&W
• Nikole18 US · 5 E&W
• Nikol11 US · 10 E&W
• Nicol16 US · 3 E&W

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 Nicole

Girls

• Christina#770Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 16,600 babies; 352 in 2025
• Kathryn#729Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Melissa#419“bee, honey, or honeybee”^*
• Catherine#313possibly “each of the two”^*
• Alexandria#474Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #212 in 2015, #474 in 2025

For a brother

• Steven#271“crown, wreath”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Gregory#593“watchful, vigilant”^*
• Dennis#707“follower of (the wine god) Dionysus”^*
• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*
• Phillip#651Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 6,047 babies; 425 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 Nicole’s. Rank is US 2025.