Recorded 1948–2025 · United States
Nikola was most popular in 2020, when 159 American babies were given the name — ranking #2,537 that year. In 2025 it ranked #3,335, with 109 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 4,102 people named Nikola.
Nikola first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1948, which makes it about 77 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 66 of the 78 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 4,102 American births named Nikola between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 4,011 are estimated to be alive today.
109 American babies were named Nikola in 2025, ranking #3,335 that year.
Nikola is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 130 births a year, against 126 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +3% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Nikola is mostly a boy’s name — 16.0% of the 4,102 Americans given it were girls and 84.0% were boys. It changed hands: since 1975 it has gone mainly to boys, having gone mainly to girls before that. In births since 2016 it is 7% girls and 93% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 4,011 Americans named Nikola are alive today — 98% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 15 years old, and half are between 8 and 28.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Nikola on the interactive charts
About · Privacy · Contact
Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org