Popularity of the name Nicole, 1937–2025
Nicole was at its most popular in 1983, when 22,400 girls were given the name: about 1 in 75 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #7. In 2025, 803 girls were named Nicole, ranking #382. In all, Social Security counts 594,500 girls named Nicole since 1937. Social Security’s records also list 1,965 boys named Nicole.
- Peak year
- 1983
- Rank in 1983
- #7
- Babies in 1983
- 22,400
- Rank in 2025
- #382
- Total since 1937
- 594,500
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #154 in 2015 to #382 in 2025, with 2,116 girls named Nicole in 2015 and 803 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Nicole ranked highest in the 1980s, at #8, with 210,494 girls given the name that decade. It ranked #4,852 in the 1930s and #326 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 25 in 1940 (#1,549), 243 in 1960 (#648), 19,917 in 1980 (#7), 8,563 in 2000 (#31) and 1,163 in 2020 (#266).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 22,966, in 1985. That is not its peak year: Social Security’s records hold more girls for 1985 than for 1983, so the name’s share of births was smaller. Its best rank in any year was #6, first reached in 1982.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1937 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Nicole, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | 9 | #2,940 |
| 1938 | 7 | #3,450 |
| 1939 | 12 | #2,417 |
| 1940 | 25 | #1,549 |
| 1941 | 31 | #1,384 |
| 1942 | 70 | #936 |
| 1943 | 89 | #824 |
| 1944 | 58 | #1,029 |
| 1945 | 61 | #984 |
| 1946 | 80 | #931 |
| 1947 | 66 | #1,097 |
| 1948 | 68 | #1,070 |
| 1949 | 68 | #1,088 |
| 1950 | 89 | #948 |
| 1951 | 93 | #961 |
| 1952 | 103 | #912 |
| 1953 | 120 | #849 |
| 1954 | 110 | #916 |
| 1955 | 120 | #890 |
| 1956 | 153 | #802 |
| 1957 | 141 | #855 |
| 1958 | 180 | #740 |
| 1959 | 205 | #700 |
| 1960 | 243 | #648 |
| 1961 | 273 | #614 |
| 1962 | 565 | #407 |
| 1963 | 655 | #381 |
| 1964 | 831 | #330 |
| 1965 | 898 | #298 |
| 1966 | 2,028 | #169 |
| 1967 | 2,776 | #122 |
| 1968 | 3,083 | #108 |
| 1969 | 7,212 | #47 |
| 1970 | 10,691 | #30 |
| 1971 | 10,423 | #27 |
| 1972 | 15,755 | #10 |
| 1973 | 13,922 | #11 |
| 1974 | 13,112 | #11 |
| 1975 | 14,275 | #10 |
| 1976 | 14,453 | #13 |
| 1977 | 15,247 | #15 |
| 1978 | 17,279 | #10 |
| 1979 | 19,510 | #9 |
| 1980 | 19,917 | #7 |
| 1981 | 20,310 | #7 |
| 1982 | 21,706 | #6 |
| 1983 | 22,400 | #7 |
| 1984 | 22,270 | #7 |
| 1985 | 22,966 | #7 |
| 1986 | 21,292 | #7 |
| 1987 | 20,286 | #8 |
| 1988 | 20,315 | #9 |
| 1989 | 19,032 | #12 |
| 1990 | 17,954 | #13 |
| 1991 | 16,046 | #15 |
| 1992 | 16,327 | #14 |
| 1993 | 16,183 | #13 |
| 1994 | 16,011 | #11 |
| 1995 | 12,277 | #19 |
| 1996 | 11,135 | #22 |
| 1997 | 10,744 | #21 |
| 1998 | 9,911 | #24 |
| 1999 | 9,515 | #25 |
| 2000 | 8,563 | #31 |
| 2001 | 7,820 | #36 |
| 2002 | 6,974 | #37 |
| 2003 | 6,238 | #40 |
| 2004 | 5,741 | #43 |
| 2005 | 4,993 | #56 |
| 2006 | 4,322 | #74 |
| 2007 | 3,873 | #86 |
| 2008 | 3,291 | #106 |
| 2009 | 2,770 | #119 |
| 2010 | 2,570 | #123 |
| 2011 | 2,655 | #117 |
| 2012 | 2,661 | #114 |
| 2013 | 3,352 | #91 |
| 2014 | 2,540 | #128 |
| 2015 | 2,116 | #154 |
| 2016 | 1,954 | #162 |
| 2017 | 1,664 | #184 |
| 2018 | 1,429 | #217 |
| 2019 | 1,365 | #229 |
| 2020 | 1,163 | #266 |
| 2021 | 955 | #341 |
| 2022 | 996 | #323 |
| 2023 | 942 | #326 |
| 2024 | 964 | #318 |
| 2025 | 803 | #382 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.