How Many People Are Named Nicola?
An estimated 6,834 people in the United States have the first name Nicola. It is used for both genders, with 63.0% female. The average bearer is 42 years old, and Nicola peaked in popularity in 1972 with 236 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Nicola as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Nicola paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Nicola is a genuinely unisex name, given to both boys and girls in roughly equal numbers.
Estimated Living Americans
6,834
About 1 in 50,154 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
63.0% confidence
Average Age
42
years old
Peak Year
1972
236 births
Total Registered
8,047
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Nicola
Nicola is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (37.0%) and females (63.0%). Out of 8,047 total births registered, 2,981 were male and 5,066 were female.
Nicola as a male name
Ranked #3,361 in 2024
35 male births in 2024
Peak: 1972 (53 births)
Nicola as a female name
Ranked #7,470 in 2024
15 female births in 2024
Peak: 1972 (183 births)
Nicola: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Nicola span from the 1900s to the 2020s, covering 13 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1970s, when 1,761 babies were registered. Nicola has declined significantly from its peak in the 1970s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Nicola by Decade
How has Nicola tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Nicola by State
Birth registrations for Nicola span all 26 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, California, New Jersey. The lowest are in Utah, Missouri, Maryland. On average, about 128 Nicolas were registered per state.
Nicola + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicola as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Nicola
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
Nicola: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicola?
We estimate approximately 6,834 people named Nicola are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 50,154 Americans share this first name.
Is Nicola a common name?
Nicola is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 97.1% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 8,047 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Nicola most popular?
Nicola reached peak popularity in 1972, when 236 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Nicola is approximately 42 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Nicola a female name?
Nicola is predominantly female. 63.0% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Nicola Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Nicola Smith, Nicola Johnson, Nicola Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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