Nicks
A surname most often understood as a short patronymic meaning “son of Nicholas,” built from the nickname Nick.
The #8,695 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 81,787 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as a patronymic from the personal name Nicholas, with Nick as its familiar short form. In other words, Nicks originally meant “Nick’s son” or “belonging to Nick,” though the apostrophe sense is only a modern way of showing the older relationship. The deeper root of Nicholas is the Greek name Nikolaos, usually interpreted as “victory of the people.”
History
19th-century surname dictionaries consistently treat Nicks as a variant of Nicholas, and related forms include Nickson, Nix, Nixon, and Nicol. It appears in English records by the early 17th century in forms such as Edward Nickion and Mary Nicks. The name is found mainly in England and later in the wider ангlophone world through migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname writers grouped Nicks with a whole family of Nick-derived forms, showing how productive Nick was as a medieval nickname base.
From the historical record
“NICKS, Nick's (Son) \ NICKSON, Nick's Son/ V. Nick. ■dims, of Nicolas, q.v. NICOLLS NICOLS”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)