Nico

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Niko in FI Finland, HR Croatia, SI Slovenia, Nikos in GR Greece, CY Cyprus, Nikko in PH Philippines and Ნიკო in GE Georgia.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 11 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Nico is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Indonesian given name16K records spelled Nico3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Italy

  Also written 'Nico, Nicö

• Lao given name7.2K records spelled Nico75 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Laos, South Africa, Thailand, United States

  Languages: Lao, English, Swahili

  Also written Nyiko, Niko, Neko, นิโค, นิโก

• a separate given name5.3K records spelled Nico3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Switzerland

  Also written Ñico, Nicó

• Hindi given name4.8K records spelled Nico5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, South Africa, Spain

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Níco, Nîcô, Nicó

• Turkish given name1.4K records spelled Nico9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, Spain, United States, Türkiye

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani

  Also written Niço, Nìco, Ñico, Nîco, Nìcò

58 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Nico is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• ,@ Modern short form of both Nicholas and pNicola.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A male given name, nickname for Nicholas.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In German, männl. Vom., Kurzform von Nicolaus oder von italienisch Nicola (

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In Swedish, Nico är en kortform av Nicolas eller → Nicholas. Namnet bärs även av kvinnor. En känd namnbärare är den tysk-amerikanska artisten och låtskrivaren Nico (egentligen Christa Päffgen, 1938–88). I den finlandssvenska almanackan 6 december.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In Italian, forma popular e coloquial, redução de Nicola.

  as a name·Dicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 85 years between 1916–2015. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Nico Bloembergenb. 1920NLDutch-born American physicist
• Nico Fidencob. 1933ITItalian singer and film soundtrack composer (1933-2022)
• Nico Lathourisb. 1944AUAustralian actor
• Nico Muhlyb. 1981USAmerican contemporary classical composer
• Nico Rosbergb. 1985DEGerman–Finnish former Formula 1 racing driver
• Nico Hülkenbergb. 1987DEFormula One racing driver
• Nico Tortorellab. 1988USAmerican actor
• Nicolás Gonzálezb. 1998ARnot in their usual nameArgentine association football player (born 1998)
• Nico Schlotterbeckb. 1999DEGerman association football player
• Nico Parkerb. 2004GBBritish actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 755 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Nico?

We estimate roughly 48 thousand people bear Nico (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Nico have the most bearers?

Nico is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled nico.

Where is Nico most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Nico is densest in Finland — about 1 in 299 people — even though Germany holds more of our records for it.

How common is Nico compared with other names?

In Germany, Nico is the 192nd most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Nico a male or female name?

Nico is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Nico mean?

Recorded meaning: Cameroonian-born musician active in Nigeria; known for juju/Panco Highlife