Head to head · Boys' names
Felix vs Nicolas
#175 vs #177 in 2025
Felix is a whisker ahead (#175 vs #177 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Felix is back after a long quiet spell, Nicolas is holding its place on the charts.
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
On the charts, Felix leads 4 measures of 6; Nicolas leads 2.
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, Nicolas #829 — Felix higher
- 1890s: Felix #168, Nicolas #947 — Felix higher
- 1900s: Felix #175, Nicolas #990 — Felix higher
- 1910s: Felix #181, Nicolas #944 — Felix higher
- 1920s: Felix #222, Nicolas #760 — Felix higher
- 1930s: Felix #265, Nicolas #842 — Felix higher
- 1940s: Felix #301, Nicolas #789 — Felix higher
- 1950s: Felix #303, Nicolas #711 — Felix higher
- 1960s: Felix #322, Nicolas #657 — Felix higher
- 1970s: Felix #327, Nicolas #445 — Felix higher
- 1980s: Felix #358, Nicolas #234 — Nicolas higher
- 1990s: Felix #378, Nicolas #163 — Nicolas higher
- 2000s: Felix #376, Nicolas #142 — Nicolas higher
- 2010s: Felix #273, Nicolas #188 — Nicolas higher
- 2020s: Felix #193, Nicolas #189 — Nicolas higher
Felix stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Nicolas has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Felix | Nicolas |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #156 | #829 |
| 1890s | #168 | #947 |
| 1900s | #175 | #990 |
| 1910s | #181 | #944 |
| 1920s | #222 | #760 |
| 1930s | #265 | #842 |
| 1940s | #301 | #789 |
| 1950s | #303 | #711 |
| 1960s | #322 | #657 |
| 1970s | #327 | #445 |
| 1980s | #358 | #234 |
| 1990s | #378 | #163 |
| 2000s | #376 | #142 |
| 2010s | #273 | #188 |
| 2020s | #193 | #189 |
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
Nicolas
Not charting outside the US.
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.
Nicolas
victory of the people
From Greek nikē, victory, and laos, the people.
Nikolaos → Nicolaus → Nicholas → Nicolas
How it traveled
The name begins as Greek Nikolaos and belongs, above all, to the fourth-century bishop of Myra in Asia Minor — the Saint Nicholas whose gift-giving legend traveled through Dutch and German tellings and eventually became Santa Claus. Latin turned him into Nicolaus, and from there every corner of Europe made its own version.
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.
Nicolas
NIK-uh-lus
That is the usual English reading, identical to Nicholas. In French it is nee-koh-LAH with a silent s; in Spanish, nee-koh-LAHS with the stress on the last syllable.
- Nick — The standard English short form, informal, and long established as a given name on its own.
- Nico — Used in French, Spanish, Italian and German households as well as English ones; increasingly registered as a full given name.
- Nicky — Informal and affectionate, more often heard in childhood; also used for girls named Nicole.
- Colin — A medieval English diminutive of Nicholas that long ago became an independent name; rarely used as a nickname now.
- Also Klaas.
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
Nicolas
Nicolas Cage (b. 1964) — Oscar winner and Hollywood's most fearless wild card
Nicolas Appert (b. 1749) — Invented canned food
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 on the way upup 50 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesFelix is 2 syllables to Nicolas's 3
- 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
Choose Nicolas if you want…
- a name holding steadyNicolas is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itNicolas runs 3 syllables, Felix 2
- a newer arrivalNicolas entered the US charts in 1882
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.
Nicolas
Strengths
- Works in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian with only small shifts in stress — useful in a bilingual family.
- Ready-made short forms in Nick and Nico, both of which have stood on their own for generations.
- An unbroken written record stretching back to Greek antiquity, and no period since when it fell out of use.
To consider
- The single l is the main friction. Nicolas will be written as Nicholas by teachers, coaches and doctors' offices for life, and correcting it becomes a small routine.
- In Spanish the name carries an accent, Nicolás, and stress on the final syllable. Deciding early whether your household writes it with or without the accent saves confusion on documents.
- Pronunciation shifts by language, so a Nicolas raised in English may hear the French version from relatives and the Spanish one from friends. Most bearers simply answer to all three.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Nicolas 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 Nicolas?
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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
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- Five-letter names, the comfortable middle
- all guides
Where Felix and Nicolas each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Felix or Nicolas — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Felix or Nicolas?
- Felix, in 2025: Felix ranked #175 with 2,064 babies; Nicolas ranked #177 with 2,053 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Felix or Nicolas?
- Felix. Over the last five years Felix moved up 50 places; Nicolas moved up 25 places.
- Which is the older name, Felix or Nicolas?
- Felix was already in use when US records began in 1880; Nicolas entered the US charts in 1882. On the American record, Felix is the older name.
- How many people are named Felix and Nicolas?
- About 60,500 people named Felix are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 97,000 people named Nicolas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Felixs or Nicolass in the classroom?
- Felix will almost certainly be the only one in school. Nicolas 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
Keep playing
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