Nicola
Given far more often in the 2000s than today, it's now uncommon enough that meeting one sticks with you: last year just 31 girls got it. A Greek name at root, meaning "victory of the people".
Nicola Pronunciation
Nicola is pronounced nyee-TSO-lah (/ɲiˈt͡sɔla/).
What Nicola means
Where Nicola comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Nicola grew from the Greek Nikolaos, joining nikē, victory, with laos, the people. Read together, it means victory of the people, in Polish zwycięstwo ludu.
The name travelled far. In Italy it belongs to men, tied to Saint Nicholas of Myra, whose relics were carried to Bari in 1087 and still draw pilgrims. The name day falls on December 6, the feast of Saint Nicholas. Many churches across the Italian south carry his name. English speakers took a different path, giving Nicola mostly to girls, alongside the close variant Nicole.
On a Polish class register the spelling Nikola appears, shaped by Slavic habit. The meaning underneath holds. Whether a child answers to Nicola, Nicol, or Nicole, the name keeps its Greek arithmetic of victory and people.
How many people are named Nicola
1 in 2451 women in Poland is named Nicola. 9,485 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #370 among female names.
Nicola's popularity over time
31 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #438 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #370 name among living women, even as it slips to #438 among newborns.
Where parents choose Nicola
Nicola is most popular in Opole, 153% above the national average (20 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Kuyavian-Pomeranian (+145%) and Silesian (+51%). It is least common in Podlaskie and Pomeranian, 73% and 57% below average respectively.
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Opole
+153%1 in 2,305 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
+145%1 in 2,378 babies
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Silesian
+51%1 in 3,857 babies
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Podlaskie
−73%1 in 21,929 babies
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Pomeranian
−57%1 in 13,393 babies
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Warmian-Masurian
−51%1 in 11,966 babies
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Opole+153% 20 born1 in 2,305 babies+153%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+145% 46 born1 in 2,378 babies+145%
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Silesian+51% 59 born1 in 3,857 babies+51%
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Lubusz+41% 12 born1 in 4,138 babies+41%
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Greater Poland+19% 44 born1 in 4,892 babies+19%
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Lower Silesian±0% 27 born1 in 5,820 babies±0%
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West Pomeranian−3% 14 born1 in 6,030 babies−3%
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Łódź−3% 21 born1 in 6,034 babies−3%
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Lublin−4% 17 born1 in 6,040 babies−4%
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Holy Cross−16% 8 born1 in 6,929 babies−16%
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Lesser Poland−28% 28 born1 in 8,104 babies−28%
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Subcarpathian−32% 14 born1 in 8,612 babies−32%
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Masovian−33% 41 born1 in 8,641 babies−33%
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Warmian-Masurian−51% 6 born1 in 11,966 babies−51%
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Pomeranian−57% 11 born1 in 13,393 babies−57%
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Podlaskie−73% 3 born1 in 21,929 babies−73%
Nicola as a middle name
Nicola is a first name for 9,485 women in Poland and a middle name for another 1,401, an 87/13 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 223rd, between Longina (1,492) and Elena (1,389).
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#221 Edwarda1,514
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#222 Longina1,492
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#223 Nicola1,401
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#224 Elena1,389
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#225 Bogna1,388