Nickols: Surname History and Family Crest

In census returns, Nickols often stands in for Nicholls. Name scholars give the meaning as “son of Nicholas”. Before spelling was fixed, Nicholls was also written Nickols. Census takers and immigration officers often wrote what they heard. Related forms: Nickoles, Nicols and Nicoles.

About 1,361 people in the United States were recorded as Nickols in 2010, placing it 19,774 on the national list. That puts it among the top 25,000 US surnames. Names that sound alike, such as Nickolls and Nicolas, are easily confused in old records.

A coat of arms belongs to a particular family line rather than to everyone named Nickols, so the heraldry linked to Nicholls is a starting point, not an automatic right. Get the complete Nickols report, with a museum-style coat of arms.