Given name · also Greek
Nikolaos
“I conquer”·“people”
Nikolaos is a masculine given name from Greek, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in English and Czech.
Original GreekΝικόλαος
Meaning & origin
What it means
Nikolaos is built from elements meaning “I conquer” and “people”.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Nikolaos comes from Greek, and ultimately from Ancient Greek.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In English usage, Nikolaos developed from Νικόλαος.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1962. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nikolaos through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 2,072
- 2,072 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2014
- 58 babies
- 2025
- 51
- #2,591 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +15%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 51 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,591 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 14.5% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 58 in 2014. In 2025, California, Illinois, New York and 1 other areas shared the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (5 each). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,824 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.
Nikolaos’s family of names
In English usage, Nikolaos has a diminutive in Niko. In English usage, Nikolaos shares an earlier linguistic root with Nicholas. In German usage, Nikolaos has a related form in Nikolas.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Nikolaos has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Nikolaos comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
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.
- Νικόλαοςroot · Ancient Greek, Greek
- Nicholasdoublet · English
- Nicolasequivalent
- Nikolaequivalent
- Nilsequivalent
- Nielsequivalent
- Nikolayequivalent
- Nikosequivalent
Show 23 moreShow fewer
- Mykolaequivalent
- Nicolaasequivalent
- Nicolauequivalent
- Nicolaeequivalent
- Nikolajequivalent
- Nicolinoequivalent
- Nikolajusequivalent
- Miklavžequivalent
- Niccolòequivalent
- Miklósequivalent
- Nickelequivalent
- Николайequivalent
- Nicolòequivalent
- Nikolajsequivalent
- Νικόλαςequivalent
- Миколаequivalent
- Mikolaequivalent
- Mikołajequivalent
- Nicolásequivalent
- Mikulášequivalent
- Nikolazequivalent
- Νίκοςequivalent
- Nicolaesequivalent
People named Nikolaos
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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