Meaning not yet researched.
Nikolas: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 375 in 2025. Its best rank was #287 in 1998.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #287 in 1998; #719 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Nikolas in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#719 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1998, at #287.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Nikolas: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 375 boys in 2025. Peak: #287 in 1998 · most boys in one year: 1,060 (2004).
In 2025, 375 US boys were named Nikolas, making it the 719th most common boys’ name of the year, up 10 places from #729 in 2024. That is 13 more than the 362 boys named Nikolas in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #287, reached in 1998. The most boys given the name in a single year was 1,060, in 2004. For comparison, it was #566 in 2015 and unranked in 1950.
Social Security card records list Nikolas in 67 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1937 with 6 babies. In all, 24,050 US babies have been given the name, 0.1% of them girls and 99.9% boys. Its busiest decade was the 2000s, with 7,822 babies named Nikolas.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 4,482 US boys were named Nikolas; the busiest of those years was 2018, with 502. In 2025 that was about 1 in 4,555 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Nikolas ranked highest in Massachusetts in 2025, at #403 for boys there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Nicholas (929,199 babies since 1880), Nicolas (101,764 babies since 1880), Nikolaus (2,656 babies since 1880) and Nikolaos (2,072 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Nikoloz and Nikalus are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Claes, Nic, Nick, Nickie, Nicky and Nico.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Rare spellings summarised here: Nikoloz (105), Nikalus (40).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
US boys. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five boys got the name, so 30 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 13 | #403 | #299 |
| New Jersey | 16 | #482 | #428 |
| California | 62 | #503 | #419 |
| Arizona | 13 | #551 | #584 |
| Florida | 31 | #566 | #425 |
| Illinois | 16 | #595 | #409 |
| Texas | 52 | #598 | #537 |
| Kentucky | 7 | #608 | — |
| Maryland | 7 | #674 | #440 |
| Oregon | 5 | #681 | #392 |
| Pennsylvania | 13 | #696 | #641 |
| Michigan | 10 | #755 | #378 |
| Indiana | 8 | #759 | #705 |
| Utah | 5 | #779 | #744 |
| Washington | 8 | #786 | #558 |
| Georgia | 11 | #833 | #890 |
| Alabama | 5 | #845 | — |
| Virginia | 8 | #851 | #511 |
| Ohio | 9 | #919 | #615 |
| New York | 14 | #942 | #663 |
| North Carolina | 8 | #999 | #1,257 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 375 | #719 |
| 2024 | — | — | 362 | #729 |
| 2023 | — | — | 422 | #650 |
| 2022 | — | — | 475 | #595 |
| 2021 | — | — | 477 | #585 |
| 2020 | — | — | 453 | #604 |
| 2019 | — | — | 454 | #603 |
| 2018 | — | — | 502 | #553 |
| 2017 | — | — | 463 | #589 |
| 2016 | — | — | 499 | #566 |
| 2015 | — | — | 497 | #566 |
| 2014 | — | — | 495 | #557 |
| 2013 | — | — | 520 | #514 |
| 2012 | — | — | 550 | #487 |
| 2011 | — | — | 562 | #475 |
| 2010 | — | — | 591 | #455 |
| 2009 | — | — | 633 | #443 |
| 2008 | — | — | 674 | #430 |
| 2007 | — | — | 741 | #398 |
| 2006 | — | — | 780 | #383 |
| 2005 | 5 | #18,420 | 898 | #336 |
| 2004 | 5 | #18,051 | 1,060 | #301 |
| 2003 | — | — | 795 | #352 |
| 2002 | — | — | 745 | #358 |
| 2001 | — | — | 747 | #355 |
| 2000 | — | — | 739 | #358 |
| 1999 | — | — | 885 | #319 |
| 1998 | — | — | 1,007 | #287 |
| 1997 | — | — | 718 | #353 |
| 1996 | — | — | 599 | #394 |
| 1995 | — | — | 487 | #464 |
| 1994 | — | — | 492 | #451 |
| 1993 | — | — | 458 | #459 |
| 1992 | — | — | 443 | #478 |
| 1991 | — | — | 418 | #483 |
| 1990 | — | — | 439 | #474 |
| 1989 | 5 | #13,853 | 350 | #513 |
| 1988 | — | — | 289 | #542 |
| 1987 | — | — | 216 | #621 |
| 1986 | — | — | 201 | #633 |
| 1985 | — | — | 185 | #645 |
| 1984 | — | — | 169 | #668 |
| 1983 | — | — | 149 | #702 |
| 1982 | — | — | 136 | #757 |
| 1981 | — | — | 133 | #758 |
| 1980 | — | — | 127 | #777 |
| 1979 | — | — | 132 | #757 |
| 1978 | — | — | 108 | #823 |
| 1977 | — | — | 56 | #1,183 |
| 1976 | — | — | 28 | #1,813 |
| 1975 | — | — | 41 | #1,372 |
| 1974 | — | — | 35 | #1,490 |
| 1973 | — | — | 31 | #1,575 |
| 1972 | — | — | 30 | #1,594 |
| 1971 | — | — | 23 | #1,897 |
| 1970 | — | — | 18 | #2,190 |
| 1969 | — | — | 32 | #1,429 |
| 1968 | — | — | 20 | #1,816 |
| 1967 | — | — | 14 | #2,223 |
| 1966 | — | — | 10 | #2,740 |
| 1965 | — | — | 11 | #2,576 |
| 1964 | — | — | 6 | #3,912 |
| 1963 | — | — | 8 | #3,250 |
| 1960 | — | — | 6 | #3,941 |
| 1958 | — | — | 5 | #4,346 |
| 1949 | — | — | 5 | #4,068 |
| 1937 | — | — | 6 | #3,411 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).