Nicola History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Netherlands
France
Italy

The surname is one of the oldest family names to came from that French region known as Brittany. It is derived from the Latin personal name Nicolaus, meaning victory people.

Early Origins of the Nicola family

The surname Nicola was first found in Brittany where they held a family seat in the seigneurie of Trévidy. They were members of the nobility since the year 1497. In Brittany they also branched to Champgèrault, Fardelière, Kerviziou, and Lézernant.

Early History of the Nicola family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Nicola research. Another 78 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1501, 1516, 1598, 1617, 1625, 1682, 1695, 1709 and 1820 are included under the topic Early Nicola History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Nicola Spelling Variations

Changes of spelling have occurred in most surnames. The earliest explanation is that during the early development of the French language, names were not yet fixed in spelling. Usually a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. This depended on accent, and local accents frequently changed the spelling of a name. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there are some spelling variations of the name Nicola, including Nicolas, De Nicolas, Nicolis, Nicolaz, Nicolais, Nicolai, Nicola, Nicolay, Nicolau, Nicolaud, Nicolaus, DeNicolai and many more.

Early Notables of the Nicola family

Notable amongst this name at this time was

Louis Nicolas (died 1682), French missionary in Canada, author of the books "Histoire Naturelle des Indes Occidentales" and the "Grammaire algonquine"
Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie (1625-1709), French magistrate, considered to be the founder of the first modern police force

Nicola Ranking

In the United States, the name Nicola is the 15,394^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Nicola migration to the United States +

Migration from France to New France or Quebec as it was now more popularly called, continued from France until it fell in 1759. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In the treaty of Utrecht, the Acadians were ceded by France to Britain in 1713. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported. They found refuge in Louisiana. In 1793, the remaining French in these provinces came under British rule. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many of this distinguished family name Nicola were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Nicola were

Nicola Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Ludwig Nicola, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1738 2

Nicola Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Dn Nicola, aged 27, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1820 2
Guan Nicola, aged 28, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1854 2
Gavini Nicola, aged 28, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1858 2
Jose Maria Nicola, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1868 2
Gaetano Nicola, age 41, who arrived in America on June 7, 1880, aboard the "Victoria"
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Nicola (post 1700) +

Annabel Nicola Croft (b. 1966), English former professional British No. 1 female tennis player and current radio and television presenter from Farnborough, Kent
Carlo Nicola Pagani (b. 1977), Italian football defender
Nicola Corinne Hitchcock, British singer and songwriter. She is best known for having been one half of the trip hop duo Mandalay
Nicola De Angelis C.F.I.C (1939-2023), Italian Bishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Nicola Sturgeon (b. 1970), Scottish politician, Leader of the Scottish National Party (2007-2014), First Minister of Scotland (2014-2023)
Nicola Molè (1931-2023), Italian lawyer and politician, member of the Social Christians and the Democrats of the Left, he served as president of the Province of Terni from 1995 to 1999
Nicola Zamboni (1943-2023), Italian sculptor, born in Bologna
Miss Nicola Benedetti C.B.E., M.B.E. (b. 1987), born in West Kilbride, North Ayrshire, Scotland, Scottish Classical Violinist and Musician, the first Scot and the first woman to lead the Edinburgh International Festival (2023) since it began in 1947 3
Nicola Materazzi (1939-2022), Italian mechanical engineer who developed several sports and racing cars, including the Ferrari 288 GTO, Ferrari F40, Bugatti EB110 and B Engineering Edonis
Nicola Mary Coughlan (b. 1987), Irish actress, known for her roles as Clare Devlin in the Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls (2018–2022) and Penelope Featherington in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton (2020–present)

The Nicola Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: En bon espoir
Motto Translation: In good hope.

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
"Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62507, 28 December 2018 | London Gazette, The Gazette, Dec. 2018, www.thegazette.co.uk/honours-lists