Nicholas

Nicholas: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “victory of the people”
Origin: Greek
Say it: NIK-uh-lus · 3 syllables
Used for: Boys

From Greek Nikolaos, combining elements meaning victory and people. Traditional variants include Nicolas, Nikolaos, and Nikolai.

English names Greek names Names meaning victory Classic names International names

How popular is Nicholas?

2024909 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Nicholas in 20243,025

2024 rank#117 boys

Peak year1995

Total US babies since 1880926,036

Nicholas is fading: recent use is about 49% of its level ten years before.

Names like Nicholas

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Coleswarthy, coal-black · English
Nicolasvictory of the people · Greek
Nicovictory of the people · Greek
Colinyoung creature; cub · Scottish Gaelic
Colsonson of Cole · English
Collinpeople of victory · Greek
Nikolaivictory of the people · Russian
Nikolasvictory of the people · Greek

Nicholas questions

What does the name Nicholas mean?

Nicholas means "victory of the people". It comes from Greek. From Greek Nikolaos, combining elements meaning victory and people. Traditional variants include Nicolas, Nikolaos, and Nikolai.

Is Nicholas a boy or girl name?

Nicholas is mainly a boy's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Nicholas?

3,025 US babies were named Nicholas in 2024. Its peak year was 1995.

How do you pronounce Nicholas?

Nicholas is usually pronounced NIK-uh-lus.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.