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 Nicola is most popular
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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Opole20 girls born+153%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian46 girls born+145%
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Silesian59 girls born+51%
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Lubusz12 girls born+41%
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Greater Poland44 girls born+19%
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Lower Silesian27 girls born0%
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West Pomeranian14 girls born−3%
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Łódź21 girls born−3%
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Lublin17 girls born−4%
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Świętokrzyskie8 girls born−16%
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Lesser Poland28 girls born−28%
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Subcarpathian14 girls born−32%
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Masovian41 girls born−33%
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Warmian-Masurian6 girls born−51%
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Pomeranian11 girls born−57%
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Podlaskie3 girls born−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
1,514Edwarda
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222
1,492Longina
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2231,401Nicola
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224
1,389Elena
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225
1,388Bogna