Nico
Masculine · “victory of the people”
Nico is given to both — 21,294 boys and 1,028 girls since 1880. See Nico as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Nico is the short end of Nikolaos, the old Greek name that gave Europe its Nicholases, Niccolòs and Nicolases. Two syllables, one long vowel, and it lands the same way in Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German mouths — which is part of why it travels so easily. In American records it is a recent wave rather than an old one, still climbing.
How old is the name Nico?
Nico first appears in US birth records in 1960 — 65 years ago. The typical Nico is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 21,000 people named Nico are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nico most popular?
Nico peaked in 2025, reaching #174 nationally. Today it ranks #174, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Nico appears on these lists:
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- Italian names Americans adore
- Percy Jackson names on the charts
- Cute and cozy names that stay small
- Names ending in -o
- all guides
Works in Italian families too:
Where it comes from
From Nikolaos to Nico
The story of Nico
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. Nico is the clipping that stuck across the most borders: standard in Italy and Spain, long-established as a standalone name in the Netherlands, familiar in German-speaking countries beside the spelling Niko. It reached American records in the mid-twentieth century and has been gathering speed since, helped along by figures like the Formula One champion Nico Rosberg.
Meaning
victory of the people
From Greek nikē, victory, and laos, people — the elements behind Nikolaos and every Nicholas since.
Cultural footprint
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.
How the name formed
- Nikolaos
- Nicolaus
- Nicholas / Niccolò / Nicolás
- Nico
Related forms: Nico · Nico · Nico · Niko · Nikos · Niko
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Nico
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1960
- Most boys named
- 20252,066 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #174reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +22.5%2,066 in 2025, from 1,686
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Nico in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nico in Italian — same name
- Nico in Spanish — same name
- Nico in Dutch — same name
- Niko in German — spelling variant
- Nikos in Greek — related form
- Niko in Croatian — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas. International figures from National Records of Scotland. Sources
Nicos among us
people named Nico are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 827 born in 2025 was named Nico
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Nico
- #174
- Nico on the 2025 chart
- #111
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Nico went to 2,066 boys in 2025, but Niko, Nikko and Nicco are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 3,297, which makes it the 111th most-given boys’ name of the year — 63 places above the chart.
and 2 rarer spellings.
About 1 boy in 518 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 827 for Nico itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Marco test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nico's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marco climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marco's path sketches the road Nico is walking now.
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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Nico is headed
Nico looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 24% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Nico beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nico in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- Two clear syllables that most people spell right on the first hearing.
- 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.
- It is rising quickly rather than holding steady, so it is likely to be less unusual by the time this child reaches high school than it is in a kindergarten today.
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What they receive
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Nico
Masculine · #174 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nicos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 21,000 people named Nico are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Nico?
- Nico is the most-used spelling in US records — 2,066 of the 3,297 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Niko, Nikko and Nicco.
- How popular is the name Nico in 2025?
- Nico ranks #174 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,066 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nico?
- About 1 in every 827 US boys born in 2025 was named Nico — 2,066 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nico with classmates?
- Nico will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nico
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Felix#175 · Jesus#173 · Antonio#176 · Braxton#172 · Barrett#171 · Nicolas#177 · Matias#170 · Judah#178
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nico? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nico and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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