Nicolai
Masculine · “victory of the people”
Nicolai is the Scandinavian and Russian of Nicholas — victory of the people — and Saint Nicholas became Santa Claus.
How old is the name Nicolai?
Nicolai first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Nicolai alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 1,800 people named Nicolai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nicolai most popular?
Nicolai peaked in 2015, reaching #1870 nationally. Today it ranks #2572, 702 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From nike laos to Nicolai
The story of Nicolai
Nicholas of Myra gave dowries to three poor sisters by night, which is why he became the patron of secret gift-giving; Dutch Sinterklaas reached New York and English turned it into Santa Claus. Nicolai is standard in Scandinavia and Russia and is in current American use.
Meaning
victory of the people
From the Greek nike, 'victory', and laos, 'people'. Nike is the goddess and the word alike. Nicolai is the Danish, Norwegian and Russian form. The Greek elements are ordinary and the compound transparent.
How the name formed
- nike laos
- Nikolaos
- Nicolai
Related forms: Nicolai · Николай · Nicholas
Pronouncing Nicolai
nik-oh-LY
Three syllables, stress on the third. Russian Nikolai says it the same way.
Nicknames for Nicolai
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1962
- Most boys named
- 201578 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1870reached in 2015
- Change vs 2024
- −1.9%51 in 2025, from 52
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Nicolai in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nicolai in Danish — same name
- Николай in Russian — transliteration
- Nicholas in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Nicolais among us
people named Nicolai are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 33,492 born in 2025 was named Nicolai
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Nicolai
- #2572
- Nicolai on the 2025 chart
- #487
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Nicolai went to 51 boys in 2025, but Nikolai, Nikolay and Nickolai are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 544, which makes it the 487th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,085 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 3,140 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 33,492 for Nicolai itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Devron test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nicolai's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Devron climbed just as high around 1990, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Devron's path sketches the road Nicolai is walking now.
Nicolai sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Nicolai is headed
Nicolai should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Nicolai beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nicolai in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That Santa Claus descends from the name is a first-rate piece of history.
- Nico and Kolya are two short forms, both with real use.
- The victory-of-the-people meaning is transparent and strong.
- Nicholas is what English speakers will substitute.
- Several spellings are in circulation across languages.
- It reads as specifically Scandinavian or Russian.
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What they receive
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Nicolai
Masculine · #2572 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nicolais are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Nicolai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Nicolai?
- Nicolai is one of 4 recorded spellings. Nikolai is the more common one — 469 births in 2025 against 51 for Nicolai.
- How popular is the name Nicolai in 2025?
- Nicolai ranks #2572 among US boy names in 2025, with 51 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nicolai?
- About 1 in every 33,492 US boys born in 2025 was named Nicolai — 51 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nicolai with classmates?
- Nicolai will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nicolai
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ripp#2572 · Parth#2572 · Willem#2572 · Duane#2572 · Nikolaos#2572 · Efraim#2572 · Zair#2572 · Stryker#2572
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nicolai? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nicolai and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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