The Nicks surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,775 people carried this name — #8,695 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 78,100 people counted. That is down 6% from 4,029 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Nicks surname

A surname originating as a patronymic.

From a diminutive of the given name Nicholas + the patronymic suffix -s.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Nicks» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Nicholas’.

His entry covers Nicks and Nickson.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 558 · public domain.

In print

Nicks in American newspapers,
1903.

Newspaper page from The Weekly Iberian carrying the name Nicks
The Weekly Iberian 1903-08-29

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Nicks in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1980s.

882 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Nicks. The most, 182, date from the 1920s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in South Australia, at 3.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

South Australia 373
Victoria 172
New South Wales 155
Queensland 128
Western Australia 25
Tasmania 20
ACT (Canberra) 6

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

Who carried it

People named Nicks,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Oran W. Nicks
    Oran W. Nicks 1925–1998 · project manager
  • Catherine Nicks d. 1709 · merchant
  • Ursula Nicks d. 1763
  • William J. Nicks 1905–1999 · athletics competitor
  • Frank Nicks 1914– · athletics competitor
  • Walter Nicks 1925–2007 · teacher

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Nicks,
in the records of 5 countries.

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 States220 records

220 records of the Nicks name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 118
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 39
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 29
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 16
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 12
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 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 George Nicks

    Born 1916 in Mississippi. Enlisted 1943 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri; laundry worker. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1988, buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Missouri.

    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 Benjamin Arnold Nicks

    Born 1946; from Shawnee, Kansas. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1970 in Thua Thien, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Nicolas Nicks

    Arrived at New York in 1893 aboard the Noordland from Antwerp, aged 21; laborer. From Eschdorf, Luxemburg; bound for Chicago.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 220 records for Nicks 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, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · 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); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada44 records

44 records of the Nicks name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 32
  • Halifax municipal cemeteries 5
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 4
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 2
  • City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Elsie Nicks

    Buried in 1988 at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, aged 87.

    Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Frederick C. Nicks

    Died 1923 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Clarence Gilbert Nicks

    Died in service in 1916.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 44 records for Nicks in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Netherlands22 records

22 records of the Nicks name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 17
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 4
  • Dutch population registers 1
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Aalke Jans Nicks

    Married in 1818 in Nieuwolda; maidservant.

    Open Archives, Groninger Archieven (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Lambertus Nicks

    Died 1841 in Den Haag, aged 59.

    Open Archives, Nationaal Archief Rijksarchief Zuid-Holland (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Marijtje Nicks

    Buried in 1717 in Rotterdam.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 22 records for Nicks in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Australia10 records

10 records of the Nicks name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 3
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 3
  • Tasmanian Names Index 2
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 1
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Benjamin Nicks

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the John Barry, arriving 1836; certificate of freedom 1842.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Iris Jean Nicks

    Of Horsham, Victoria; died 1995.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record W. T. Nicks

    Arrived in Victoria in 1911 aboard the Orontes, aged 27.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 10 records for Nicks in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Germany4 records

4 records of the Nicks name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Karl Nicks

    From Berlin. Reported wounded in the Prussian casualty list of 3 August 1916 (Infantry Regiment No. 19).

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)
  2. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Herbert Nicks

    From Hohenkränig, Frankfurt a. O. Reported wounded in the Prussian casualty list of 26 September 1916 (Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 93).

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Showing 2 of 4 records for Nicks in Germany.

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Nicks.

When the index is not enough

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

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