Given name & surname
Klaus
“of the victorious people”
Klaus is used as a given name and a surname. One German interpretation is “of the victorious people.”
Original GermanNikolaus
Meaning & origin
What it means
One German interpretation is “of the victorious people.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is German.
How it developed
In German use, Klaus is used as a spelling variant of Claus.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1953. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Klaus through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,471
- 1,471 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2022
- 84 babies
- 2025
- 63
- #2,245 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +38%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 63 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,245 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 38.2% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, Pennsylvania had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (6). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 3,606 as a first name in 2020; 5,108 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Klaus’s family of names
In French usage, Klaus is a diminutive of Nikolaus. In Finnish usage, Klaus developed from the Latin form Nicolaus. In German usage, Klaus has a conventional equivalent in the English form Nicholas.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Klaus has relatives in 11 languages. Lines run from its German roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 11
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Nikolausfull form · German, French
- Clausvariant · German, Danish
- Clausenvariant · German
- Kläuschendiminutive · German
- Klausingvariant · German
- Klauservariant · German
- Klasingvariant · German
- Nicolausfull form · Finnish, Latin
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Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 10
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- NicholasEnglish
- NicolaItalian
- Klausen“son of” surname · Danish
- NicolásSpanish
- Klāvscognate · Latvian
- MikulášCzech
- Klasequivalent
- Klusequivalent
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People named Klaus
- Klaus IohannisPresident of Romania from 2014 to 2025born 1959
- Klaus EbnerAustrian writerborn 1964
- Klaus von KlitzingGerman physicistborn 1943
- Klaus KinskiGerman actor (1926–1991)
- Klaus MannGerman writer (1906–1949)
- Klaus HasselmannGerman climate researcher, meteorologist, and oceanologist (born 1931)
- Klaus SchwabGerman economist, founder of World Economic Forumborn 1938
- Klaus WowereitGerman politicianborn 1953
- Klaus MeineGerman singerborn 1948
Characters named Klaus: Klaus Baudelaire (fictional character), Klaus Heisler (the animated series American Dad!).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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