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Nikolaos

#2,591 in 2025Boys' name

I conquer + people

Nikolaos has been given to 2,072 babies in the U.S. since 1962. In 2025 it ranked #2,591 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2014, with 58 recorded.

Babies named Nikolaos, 2025

1 in 65,000

Nikolaos over time, 1880–2025

Boys
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Nikolaos: meaning, origin, and history

I conquer + people

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Nikolaos means

Nikolaos means “I conquer + people”, associated with νικάω and λαός.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from Greek Νικόλαος (Nikólaos), from Ancient Greek Νικόλαος (Nikólaos), from νικάω (nikáō, “I conquer”) + λαός (laós, “people”). Doublet of Nicholas.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Nikolaos (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Nikolaos is used in English and Czech.

Nikolaos comes through Greek Νικόλαος and Ancient Greek Νικόλαος.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Νικόλαος and Nicholas.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Czech, Nikolaos is pronounced [ˈɲɪkolaos].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,072 boys were recorded with the name Nikolaos between 1962 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 58 in 2014; its best national rank was #1,347 in 1979.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,646 in 2020 to #2,591 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,845 in 2015 to #2,591 in 2025.

How common is Nikolaos?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 65,000
51 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 33,500
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,591
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
45,058 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nikolaos sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 45,058 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nikolaos. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nikolaoss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nikolaos was born before 2003 — so the typical Nikolaos is around 22 today.

Median birth year
2003
About 22 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
21.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
54.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,072
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 21.6% of all recorded uses (448).

Is Nikolaos rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+192
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+55
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+254
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.21×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
87.9%
Peak was 2014 (58)
Years since peak
11
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
17.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,347
1979

Spellings of Nikolaos

Nikolaos is not the most common spelling — Nicolas is, with 52.8% against Nikolaos's 1.1%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Nikolaos is used

Across 1910–2025, Nikolaos was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 33,333 boys, against 1 in 106,718 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

03 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 33,333
  2. 2Illinois1 in 100,000
  3. 3Massachusetts1 in 100,000
  4. 4California1 in —
  5. 5Connecticut1 in —
  6. 6Florida1 in —
  7. 7New Jersey1 in —
  8. 8Ohio1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Nikolaos has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Nikolaos around the world

Where Nikolaos ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #1,705
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2015–2024
    #727
    in 2024
  • France
    2000–2000
    #3,023
    in 2000
  • Canada
    1991–2023
    #2,436
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    1954–2012
    #514
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Nikolaos in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Nikolaos. Linked forms have their own page here.

NikoNilsNielsNikosMykolaNikolaNicolaeNicolasNicolauNikolajNikolasNikolayNicholasNicolaasNicolinoNikolausMiklósMikolaNickelNicolòMiklavžMikołajMikulášNiccolò

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Nikolaos by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,591
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 55
Best rank ever
#1,347
1979
Peak year
2014
58 that year
First recorded
1962
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,072
Count in 2025
51

Names similar to Nikolaos

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

NikolausNiklausNikkolasNiklasNikitaNikolaNikolayNikolaiNikhilNikoliNikkoNikosNikodemNikolasNikolozNikholasNikolosNikkiNikolusNikolajNikolisNikaiNikanNiko

Names with a curve like Nikolaos

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Nikolaos, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

KonstantinosSalimYusefKarlosKendricAminSkyVikramNaeemZachRomelYuri

Sibling names for Nikolaos

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Nikolaos

Top names of 2014, Nikolaos's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1979Boys' names starting with NCzech NamesGreek Boy NamesUncommon Czech Boy Names