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Nika

#3,200 in 2025Girls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Nika has been given to 2,502 babies in the U.S. since 1961. In 2025 it ranked #3,200 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2017, with 77 recorded.

Babies named Nika, 2025

1 in 66,300

Nika over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Nika: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Nika means

Nika has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Nika

A separate documented entry treats Nika as a short form of Veronika. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

A separate documented entry treats Nika as a feminine form of Nikola. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

A separate documented entry treats Nika as a diminutive of Nikoloz. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Origin, language, and formation

Nika is used in Serbo-Croatian and Slovene.

Nika comes through Ancient Greek Νίκη.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Serbo-Croatian, Nika is pronounced /nǐːka/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,497 girls were recorded with the name Nika between 1961 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 77 in 2017; its best national rank was #2,378 in 2017.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,772 in 2020 to #3,200 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,639 in 2015 to #3,200 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Nika between 2003 and 2003. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2003; its best national rank was #12,193 in 2003.

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 Nika?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 66,300
50 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 32,100
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#3,200
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
45,959 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nika 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 45,959 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nika. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nikas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nika was born before 2006 — so the typical Nika is around 19 today.

Median birth year
2006
About 19 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
27.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
58.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,497
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 27.0% of all recorded uses (674).

Is Nika 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
−92
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−428
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−561
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.74×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
64.9%
Peak was 2017 (77)
Years since peak
8
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,378
2017

Spellings of Nika

Nika is not the most common spelling — Lisa is, with 23.6% against Nika's 0.06%.

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 Nika is used

Across 2016–2025, Nika was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 10,000 girls, against 1 in 21,762 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

110 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 10,000
  2. 2Florida1 in 16,667
  3. 3Illinois1 in 20,000
  4. 4New York1 in 33,333
  5. 5Massachusetts1 in 50,000
  6. 6Washington1 in 50,000
  7. 7Ohio1 in 100,000
  8. 8Texas1 in 100,000

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.

Nika around the world

Where Nika 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
    1999–2025
    #2,788
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2007–2025
    #608
    in 2025
  • France
    1982–2024
    #4,289
    in 2024
  • Canada
    1992–2024
    #1,542
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1993–2009
    #818
    in 2009

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Nika

People whose public names include Nika, 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.

Nika in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Nika. Linked forms have their own page here.

NicaNike

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Nika by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#3,200
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 428
Best rank ever
#2,378
2017
Peak year
2017
77 that year
First recorded
1961
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,497
Count in 2025
50

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#12,193
2003
Peak year
2003
5 that year
First recorded
2003
Last recorded
2003
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Nika

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

NikiNikoNikolArikaMikaNikiaNikoleNikolaNikiyaNikitaNikaylaOnikaNikkiaMeikaMalikaKanikaAvikaNikkiMalaikaIshikaMaikaAnvikaJenikaAarika

Names with a curve like Nika

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

KeziaYochevedHananTirzahElishevaVaniaTalyaZipporahFatimahKalenaCassiaCharly

Sibling names for Nika

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 Nika

Top names of 2017, Nika's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2017Girls' names starting with NSlovenian Girl Names