The Nicely surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,789 people carried this name — #6,998 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 61,700 people counted. That is up 3% from 4,635 in 2000.

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In the first U.S. census, 1790

29 families named Nicely, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 192 people lived in those households, 6.6 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 9 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Pennsylvania 20
Virginia 8
New York 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 255 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Nicely in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1980s.

1,800 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Nicely. The most, 314, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in South Australia, at 1.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 597
Victoria 449
South Australia 319
Queensland 284
Western Australia 78
Tasmania 60
ACT (Canberra) 10

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Nicely.

Who carried it

People named Nicely,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Joe Nicely 1934–2010 · American football player

Wikidata (CC0).

In the public record

People named Nicely,
in the records of the United States.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States248 records

248 records of the Nicely name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 180
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 55
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 5
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 4
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 2
  • Sacramento County historic burials 1
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Arthur F. Nicely

    Born 1918 in Tennessee. Enlisted 1944 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; salesperson from Knox County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1972, buried at Knoxville National Cemetery, Tennessee.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Nelson Talmadge Nicely

    Born 1947; from Clifton Forge, Virginia. U.S. Army, infantryman; died of wounds 1967 in Quang Ngai, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Melvin Alonzo Nicely

    U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War. Born 1930, died 2000; buried at Herbert Hills Cemetery, Hayesville, North Carolina.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 248 records for Nicely in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Nicely.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Nicely is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Nicely volume
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