Given name & surname · also Dutch
Nicholas
“of the victorious people”
Nicholas is used as a given name and a surname. One Greek interpretation is “of the victorious people.”
Original GreekΝικόλαος
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Greek interpretation is “of the victorious people.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Dutch.
How it developed
Nicholas developed from Greek Nikolaos. The earlier name combines niké (“victory”) and laos (“people”).
The story
Its Christian associations include Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop of Myra in Lycia, about whom virtually nothing factual is known.
Nicholas through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 929,199
- 926,047 boys · 3,152 girls
- Most popular year
- 1995
- 29,216 babies
- 2025
- 3,123
- #112 for boys · #11,640 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −31%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 3,115 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 112 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 31.5% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 29,160 in 1995. It also appeared in 8 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (425). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 711,305 as a first name in 2020; 25,235 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.
Nicholas’s family of names
In English usage, Nicholas has a diminutive in Colin. Nicholas has a feminine form in Nicole. In Portuguese usage, Nicholas has a related form in Nicolas.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Nicholas has relatives in 42 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Nicholas comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 65
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Nicolasvariant · English, Old French
- Nicodiminutive · English
- Colediminutive · English
- Nikovariant · Finnish
- Colettediminutive · French
- Colinshort form · English
- Collindiminutive · English
- Nikolaivariant · Finnish
Show 52 moreShow fewer
- Nikolasvariant · Portuguese, Basque
- Nickdiminutive · English
- Nickolasvariant · English
- Nikitavariant
- Nicolaivariant · Walloon
- Nicolovariant
- Nicholevariant
- Nicolavariant · Italian, Sicilian
- Niccolovariant
- Nicolettadiminutive · Italian
- Nikolausvariant · German, Swedish
- Nicolvariant · English
- Nikolayvariant
- Nikidiminutive · English
- Nikosvariant
- Nicholaivariant
- Niklasvariant · Swedish, Faroese
- Nickydiminutive · English
- Nickodiminutive · English
- Nicksonvariant · English
- Nicklasvariant
- Nikkolasvariant
- Nicolaasvariant · Dutch
- Nicholausvariant · Middle English
- Nichollaslikely variant
- Nickidiminutive · English
- Nikkosvariant
- Nikalusvariant
- Nikolosvariant
- Nicollvariant
- Nicolisvariant
- Nicolivariant
- Nicoletvariant
- Nicolausvariant
- Nickolausvariant
- Nicholsvariant
- Nichollvariant
- Nicholvariant
- Nicanorvariant
- Kolyapet form
- Clausshort form
- Nicholasslikely variant
- Niccholaslikely variant
- Nicklinpet form · English
- Niccolòvariant · Italian
- Collclipped form · English
- Neakailvariant
- Neacalvariant
- Nilosvariant
- Niklosvariant
- Niklaasvariant
- Nikkolayvariant
And 5 more.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 85
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Νικόλαοςroot · Greek, Ancient Greek
- ΝικόλαςGreek
- Nicolefeminine form
- Nixonrelated form
- Niklauscognate
- NikolaMaltese, Czech
- KlausGerman
- Nikolaosdoublet · English
Show 52 moreShow fewer
- Nilscognate · Norwegian, Swedish
- Coulsonrelated form
- Nielscognate · Danish
- Nixpatronymic from · English
- Mykolaequivalent
- Nicolinoequivalent
- Micholasequivalent
- Niccolaequivalent
- Nikolajequivalent
- Nicholson“son of” surname · English
- Nicolaucognate · Portuguese, Catalan
- Nixsonpatronymic from · English
- Mikolasrelated form
- Niilocognate · Finnish
- Nicolaecognate · Romanian
- Nicolasafeminine form
- Nikoraequivalent
- Nikolaoequivalent
- Nicolaesequivalent
- Miklavžequivalent
- Klaasequivalent
- Nickelequivalent
- Міколаequivalent
- Mikalaiequivalent
- Микоулаequivalent
- निक्लांवequivalent
- Miikkulaequivalent
- Миколайequivalent
- ⲛⲓⲕⲟⲗⲁⲟⲥequivalent
- Миколаequivalent
- نيقولاوسequivalent
- Nigulasequivalent
- Мікалайequivalent
- ניקאָלײַequivalent
- ܢܝܩܠܐܘܣequivalent
- Nic'lesseequivalent
- ნიკოლოზიequivalent
- Niklotequivalent
- Nigulequivalent
- Nekéequivalent
- НиколайRussian, Bulgarian
- Nickissonpatronymic from · English
- Niillascognate · Northern Sami
- NícolasPortuguese
- NicolásSpanish
- Niclasederivative · yol
- Nickspatronymic from · English
- Nickersonpatronymic from · English
- Nicholinefeminine form · English
- Niklāvscognate · Latvian
- Nikolajscognate · Latvian
- MikulášCzech, Slovak
And 25 more.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Nicholas
- Nicholas II14th and last Emperor of Russia (1894–1917)1868–1918
- Nicholas I of RussiaThe 11th Emperor of Russia, 1825–1855 (lived 1796-1855)
- Nicholas of CusaGerman philosopher (1401 – 1464)
- Nicholas HoultEnglish actor (born 1989)
- Nick JonasAmerican singer, actor and musicianborn 1992
- Nick NolteAmerican actor (born 1941)
- Nicholas RoerichRussian painter, writer, archaeologist and philosopher (1874–1947)
- Nicholas SparksAmerican writer and novelistborn 1965
- Nico WilliamsSpanish footballerborn 2002
Characters named Nicholas: Nick Fury (Marvel Comics), Nick Fury (the Marvel Cinematic Universe), Nicholas Rush (Stargate Universe).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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