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Nichelle

#11,635 in 2025Girls' name

Literal meaning not recorded

Nichelle has been given to 5,548 babies in the U.S. since 1961. In 2025 it ranked #11,635 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1968, with 395 recorded.

Babies named Nichelle, 2025

1 in 414,000

Nichelle over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Nichelle: meaning, origin, and history

Literal meaning not recorded

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Nichelle means

Nichelle is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Nichelle is used in English.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5,543 girls were recorded with the name Nichelle between 1961 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 395 in 1968; its best national rank was #486 in 1968.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #9,370 in 2020 to #11,635 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,647 in 2015 to #11,635 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Nichelle between 1989 and 1989. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1989; its best national rank was #8,833 in 1989.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Nichelle?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 201,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#11,635
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nichelle sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nichelle. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nichelles were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nichelle was born before 1983 — so the typical Nichelle is around 42 today.

Median birth year
1983
About 42 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
23.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
10.6%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
5,543
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 23.0% of all recorded uses (1,277).

Is Nichelle rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−771
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−2,265
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−4,988
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.42×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
2.0%
Peak was 1968 (395)
Years since peak
57
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
20.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#486
1968

Spellings of Nichelle

Nichelle is not the most common spelling — Michelle is, with 66.3% against Nichelle's 0.45%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Nichelle is used

Across 1910–2025, Nichelle was most concentrated in District of Columbia — about 1 in 8,333 girls, against 1 in 44,350 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

012 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1District of Columbia1 in 8,333
  2. 2Maryland1 in 20,000
  3. 3California1 in 25,000
  4. 4Michigan1 in 25,000
  5. 5New York1 in 25,000
  6. 6Illinois1 in 33,333
  7. 7Louisiana1 in 33,333
  8. 8New Jersey1 in 33,333

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Nichelle has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Nichelle around the world

Where Nichelle ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2012–2021
    #5,581
    in 2021
  • Canada
    1991–2022
    #3,322
    in 2022
  • South Australia
    1991–1991
    #669
    in 1991

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Nichelle

People whose public names include Nichelle, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Nichelle by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#11,635
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,265
Best rank ever
#486
1968
Peak year
1968
395 that year
First recorded
1961
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
5,543
Count in 2025
8

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#8,833
1989
Peak year
1989
5 that year
First recorded
1989
Last recorded
1989
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Nichelle

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

NicolleNicholleNicholasNicolinaMarcelleDanyelleChanelleMaybelleShanelleIzabelleAbrielleMarielleNicolaChevelleRichelleAnabelleNicolettaNicoletteGisselleKamilleMozelleAubrielleJeanelleArabelle

Names with a curve like Nichelle

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Nichelle, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

BrigetteCorinnaCheriseKeliKelleeDarciCorrinaDeidraSeanCamiMonikaTuesday

Sibling names for Nichelle

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Nichelle

Top names of 1968, Nichelle's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1968Girls' names starting with N