$Ni, Z=28$ contains ONE LESS PROTON, one less positively charge massive nuclear particle, than $Cu, Z=29$.
This difference in the $Z$ enables us to identify the different as copper and nickel respectively. The nuclei contain 30 or so neutrons, but these differentiate the $"isotopes"$ of each element, the number of neutrons do not differentiate the $"identity"$ of each element.