Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Nicholas?
Births per year, rank history and how many Nicholases are alive today.
Nicholas (male) sits just outside the top 100 boys' names in England and Wales, ranked 214th in 2025 with 234 babies given the name. This spelling of the name peaked in 1974, when around 5,300 babies were given the name, the 19th most popular that year. It has declined since 1974; the 2025 figure is roughly 4% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 200,000 babies have been named Nicholas in England and Wales since 1944. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Nicholas is one spelling of a name also recorded as Nicolas and Nikolas; the combined figures below cover every spelling. Common short forms of Nicholas include Cole and Nico.
Across all spellings of the name, the Nicholas you are most likely to meet is around 52 years old. Half of all Nicholases born in England and Wales are between 40 and 61, and there are at least 190,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 47% chance that at least one of them will be called Nicholas.
How many babies are named Nicholas each year?
Includes all spellings: Nicholas, Nicolas, Nikolas. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Nicholas spelling rank?
Where does the Nicolas spelling rank?
Where does the Nikolas spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Nicholas most popular?
Nicholas peaked in 1974, when around 5,300 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Nicholas?
At least 190,000 people named Nicholas in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Nicholas?
Most living Nicholases are between 40 and 61; the most common age is about 52.
Is Nicholas becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1974 peak.