Head to head · Boys' names
Felix vs Nico
#175 vs #174 in 2025
Nico is a whisker ahead (#174 vs #175 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Nico is climbing the charts fast, Felix is back after a long quiet spell.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Felix and Nico each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Felix #156, Nico — — Felix higher
- 1890s: Felix #168, Nico — — Felix higher
- 1900s: Felix #175, Nico — — Felix higher
- 1910s: Felix #181, Nico — — Felix higher
- 1920s: Felix #222, Nico — — Felix higher
- 1930s: Felix #265, Nico — — Felix higher
- 1940s: Felix #301, Nico — — Felix higher
- 1950s: Felix #303, Nico — — Felix higher
- 1960s: Felix #322, Nico #3044 — Felix higher
- 1970s: Felix #327, Nico #2886 — Felix higher
- 1980s: Felix #358, Nico #3001 — Felix higher
- 1990s: Felix #378, Nico #749 — Felix higher
- 2000s: Felix #376, Nico #717 — Felix higher
- 2010s: Felix #273, Nico #466 — Felix higher
- 2020s: Felix #193, Nico #240 — Felix higher
Felix stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Felix | Nico |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #156 | — |
| 1890s | #168 | — |
| 1900s | #175 | — |
| 1910s | #181 | — |
| 1920s | #222 | — |
| 1930s | #265 | — |
| 1940s | #301 | — |
| 1950s | #303 | — |
| 1960s | #322 | #3044 |
| 1970s | #327 | #2886 |
| 1980s | #358 | #3001 |
| 1990s | #378 | #749 |
| 2000s | #376 | #717 |
| 2010s | #273 | #466 |
| 2020s | #193 | #240 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Felix
- Canada#29
- England & Wales#62
Nico
- Scotland#73
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Felix
lucky, fortunate, happy
From the Latin adjective felix, which covered both 'lucky' and 'fruitful' — it was used of fertile soil as well as of successful men.
felix (Latin: lucky, fruitful) → Felix (Roman cognomen) → Felix (name of early saints and popes) → Felix
How it traveled
Felix began as a Latin adjective and became a Roman cognomen, an added name that advertised a man's good fortune. Christianity carried it forward: it belongs to a long line of early martyrs and to several popes of the first millennium, and it appears in the New Testament as the name of the Roman governor before whom Paul was tried.
Nico
victory of the people
From Greek nikē, victory, and laos, people — the elements behind Nikolaos and every Nicholas since.
Nikolaos → Nicolaus → Nicholas / Niccolò / Nicolás → Nico
How it traveled
Nikolaos was a Greek name in use well before the fourth-century bishop of Myra made it one of the most widespread names in Christendom. Latinized as Nicolaus, it settled into every European language it touched — Nicholas in England, Nicolas in France, Niccolò in Italy, Nikolaas in the Low Countries — and each of those languages clipped it.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Felix
FEE-liks
Stress on the first syllable in English. Spanish and French put an accent on the é and shift the emphasis — FAY-leeks, fay-LEEKS — but American speakers reliably land on FEE-liks without being told.
- Fee — Informal home shortening; also used for Fiona and Felicity, so it is not exclusive to this name.
- Lix — Informal, mostly among peers rather than family.
- Feli — Common informal short form in German-speaking families.
- Flick — Occasional playful shortening; rarer than the others.
Nico
NEE-koh
NEE-koh is the standard reading in Italian, Spanish, Dutch and English use. Some American speakers reach first for NIK-oh, by analogy with Nick; a single correction usually settles it.
- Nick — The English short form of the same root; works if the fuller legal name is Nicholas or Nicolas.
- Nicky — Informal and family-level, used across generations and for both sexes.
- Neeks — Playground-level, made from the way the name is usually said rather than from its spelling.
Who has carried each name
Felix
Felix Mendelssohn (b. 1809) — Composed the Wedding March
Felix Baumgartner (b. 1969) — Broke the sound barrier skydiving from the stratosphere
Nico
Nico Rosberg (b. 1985) — F1 world champion who retired at the top
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Felix if you want…
- a name that charts abroad tooFelix is on the national lists of Canada and England & Wales
- a long American recordFelix was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 30% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 56% for Nico
Choose Nico if you want…
- a name on the way upup 144 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalNico entered the US charts in 1960
- a name that feels very nowNico is climbing the charts fast
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Felix
Strengths
- Spelled identically in English, German, Dutch and Scandinavian use, and near-identically in Spanish, French and Portuguese — it travels without correction.
- No pronunciation guesswork: American readers say it right on sight.
- An unbroken written record from Roman antiquity through the medieval church to the present day.
To consider
- Felix the Cat has been in cartoons for a century, and in Britain and much of Europe Felix is also a well-known brand of cat food. Most children meet the name as a name first, but the cat is out there.
- The x-ending can collide with surnames that begin with s or z — say the full name aloud a few times before deciding.
- Short forms exist but none has really stuck; expect the full name to do most of the work, which suits some families and not others.
Nico
Strengths
- Works unchanged in Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German, so it crosses borders and family languages without respelling.
- Descends from Nikolaos, a name with an unbroken record of more than two thousand years and a familiar spelling everywhere.
- Short and complete on its own, but sits equally well as the everyday form of Nicholas, Nicolas, Niccolò or Dominic on a birth certificate.
To consider
- The vowel is the sticking point: NEE-koh is standard, but plenty of American speakers guess NIK-oh from Nick. Expect a light correction now and then.
- It reads as a short form to many people, so a Nico may be asked what it is short for. Some parents pre-empt this by putting Nicholas or Nicolás on the paperwork; others simply answer that it is the whole name.
- Elsewhere in Europe, Nico turns up on women as well as men — most visibly as the stage name of the German singer who recorded with the Velvet Underground. In US records it sits firmly on the boys' side.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Felix
30%chance Felix feels dated by 2040
Felix is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
Nico
56%chance Nico feels dated by 2040
Nico is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Felix and Nico in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Felix and Nico?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
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- Victorian names ready for a second century
- Five-letter names, the comfortable middle
- all guides
Where Felix and Nico each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Felix or Nico — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Felix or Nico?
- Nico, in 2025: Nico ranked #174 with 2,066 babies; Felix ranked #175 with 2,064 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Felix or Nico?
- Nico. Over the last five years Felix moved up 50 places; Nico moved up 144 places.
- Which is the older name, Felix or Nico?
- Felix was already in use when US records began in 1880; Nico entered the US charts in 1960. On the American record, Felix is the older name.
- How many people are named Felix and Nico?
- About 60,500 people named Felix are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 21,000 people named Nico are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Felixs or Nicos in the classroom?
- Felix will almost certainly be the only one in school. Nico will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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