Given name & surname
Nicolaas
“of the victorious people”
Nicolaas is a variant of Nicholas. One Greek interpretation is “of the victorious people.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Nicolaas is a variant of Nicholas. One Greek interpretation is “of the victorious people.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Nicolaas is a variant of Nicholas. An origin associated with Nicholas is Dutch.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1960. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Nicolaas is a variant of Nicholas. The history of Nicholas gives this family its wider story. Nicholas’s Christian associations include Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century bishop of Myra in Lycia, about whom virtually nothing factual is known.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Nicolaas through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 404
- 404 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1996
- 22 babies
- 2025
- 6
- #11,609 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 6 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 11,609 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 22 in 1996. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 628 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Nicolaas’s family of names
In Dutch usage, Nicolaas has a short form in Nico. Nicolaas has a related form in Nicholas. In Dutch usage, Nicolaas has a conventional equivalent in the English form Nicholas.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Nicolaas has relatives in 9 languages.
12 related names in 9 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 31
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- NicolasPortuguese
- NikolasGerman
- Nikolaosequivalent
- NicolaItalian
- Nilsequivalent
- Nielsequivalent
- Nikolayequivalent
- Nikosequivalent
Show 23 moreShow fewer
- Mykolaequivalent
- NicolauPortuguese
- Nicolaeequivalent
- Nikolajequivalent
- Nikolajusequivalent
- Nicolaesequivalent
- Niccolòequivalent
- Nicolayequivalent
- Miklósequivalent
- Klaasequivalent
- Nickelequivalent
- Николайequivalent
- Nicolòequivalent
- ΝικόλαοςGreek
- NícolasPortuguese
- NicolásSpanish
- MikulášCzech
- Nikolajsequivalent
- Миколаequivalent
- Mikołajequivalent
- Nikolazequivalent
- Νίκοςequivalent
- Nikólaosequivalent
People named Nicolaas
- Nicolaas BloembergenDutch-born American physicist1920–2017
- Thomas BernhardAustrian playwright and novelist (1931–1989)
- Nicolaas Laurens BurmanDutch botanist1734–1793
- Nico DiederichsSouth African politician (1903-1978)
- Nicolaas BeetsDutch theologian, professor, writer and poet, also known as Hildebrand (1814-1903)
- Nico ClaesenBelgian footballerborn 1962
- Nicolaas PiersonDutch politician (1839-1909)
- Sub FocusEnglish DJ and music producer (born 1982)
- Nicolaas Govert de BruijnDutch mathematician (1918-2012)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Nicolaas, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.