Given name & surname
Nikolaj
Nikolaj is a masculine given name. It is used in Danish and Slovene.
Original GreekΝικόλαος
Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2001. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nikolaj through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 154
- 154 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2019
- 19 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −63%
- Cooling
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 8 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 19 in 2019. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 207 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.
Nikolaj’s family of names
In Slovenian usage, Nikolaj has a conventional equivalent in the Portuguese form Nicolas. In Danish usage, Nikolaj has a conventional equivalent in the Italian form Nicola. In German usage, Nikolaj has a related form in Nikolai.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Nikolaj has relatives in 11 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
14 related names in 11 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 31
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- ΝικόλαοςGreek
- Nicholasequivalent
- NicolasPortuguese
- Nikolasequivalent
- Nikolaosequivalent
- NicolaItalian
- Nikolausalso known as · German, Swedish
- Nilsequivalent
Show 23 moreShow fewer
- Nielsequivalent
- Nikolayequivalent
- Nikosequivalent
- Nicolaasequivalent
- Mykolaequivalent
- NicolauPortuguese
- Nicolaeequivalent
- Niccolòequivalent
- Miklósequivalent
- Nickelequivalent
- Мікалайequivalent
- Mikalaiequivalent
- НиколайRussian
- Nikkulaatborrowing · Greenlandic
- NícolasPortuguese
- NikolaïFrench
- NicolásSpanish
- Nikkuborrowing · Greenlandic
- MikulášCzech
- Миколаequivalent
- Mikołajequivalent
- Nikolazequivalent
- Νίκοςequivalent
People named Nikolaj
- Nikolaj Coster-WaldauDanish actorborn 1970
- N. F. S. GrundtvigDanish Lutheran pastor, theologian, hymn-writer and educator (1783-1872)
- Nikolaj VelimirovićSerbian bishop and saint (1880–1956)1881–1956
- Nikolaj EhlersDanish ice hockey playerborn 1996
- Nikolaj Lie KaasDanish actorborn 1973
- Thue ChristiansenGreenlandic politician and designer of the Greenland flag (1940–2022)
- Nikolaj KoppelDanish musician and hostborn 1969
- Nikolaj PešalovBulgarian weightlifterborn 1970
- Nikolaj ArcelDanish film director and screenwriterborn 1972
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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