# Nuckolls (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/nuckolls/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 1,524 |
| US rank (2010) | 18,242 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 202,589 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.7% (1,499 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Unclear. Possibly ultimately from Nichols, a vernacular form of the given name Nicholas. Unlikely to be related to the noun "knuckles". A form of this name; "Knuckles", only seems to appear after the 17th century, thus the spelling could be influenced by the noun becoming a homophone with the name due to the loss of the initial /k/ consonant.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Nuckolls in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 91% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 2.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Similar surnames

Nuckols, Nickols, Nicolls, Nicholls, Nichols, Nicholson, Nicholas, Nicolas, Nickels, Nickles, Nickelson, Nicolosi.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.