# Nicanor (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/nicanor/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 787 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 787 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

From Ancient Greek Nικάνωρ (Nikánōr)

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 12 | 6,783 |
| 2007 | 9 | 8,711 |
| 2008 | 10 | 8,113 |
| 2009 | 9 | 8,790 |
| 2010 | 8 | 9,418 |
| 2011 | 8 | 9,361 |
| 2014 | 8 | 9,375 |
| 2015 | 6 | 11,686 |
| 2016 | 8 | 9,429 |
| 2017 | 9 | 8,635 |
| 2018 | 7 | 10,421 |
| 2020 | 6 | 11,578 |
| 2021 | 8 | 9,434 |
| 2022 | 10 | 8,137 |
| 2023 | 7 | 10,485 |

## People named Nicanor

- Nicanor Parra, Chilean writer, poet, mathematician, and physicist (1914-2018)
- Nicanor, Antigonid Governor of Media
- Nicanor Perlas, Filipino politician
- Nicanor Abelardo, Filipino composer (1893–1934)
- Nicanor Costa Méndez, Argentine Diplomat (1922-1992)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.