Nicolas

Spellings & scripts●(measured from records)

Locally spelled Nicholas in US United States, IT Italy, Νικολαος in GR Greece, Nicola in CZ Czechia and Nikolaos in CY Cyprus.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●(measured from records)

Attested across 13 languages in the etymology graph.

Other names spelled this way◐(inferred from the name graph)

Nicolas is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name20 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Canada

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Nicolàs, Nícolas, NicolÃs, Nico'Las, Niçolas

• a separate name8 spellings in the group

  Also written NicolÃs, Nicólás, Nicolás, Nicólas, Nicolàs

• Indonesian given name4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Indonesia, Philippines, Spain

  Also written Nícolas, 'Nicolas, Nicolás

• Swahili given name4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Kenya, United States, South Africa, Nigeria

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho

  Also written Nicolás

• Finnish given name6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, Switzerland, Estonia

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Nicolás, Nicolàs, Nícolas, NicolÃs

• Slovak given name52 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Slovakia, Czechia, Croatia, United States

  Languages: Slovak, Croatian, Czech

  Also written Nikolas, Nikolaš, Николас, Николась, Николаш

• Ukrainian given name76 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ukraine, United States, Russia, United Kingdom

  Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Polish

  Also written Миколай, Nicholas, Mykolai, Николас, Николя

112 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●(measured from records)

Nicolas is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• From the Greek name Νικόλαος (Nikolaos), meaning 'victory of the people' or 'conqueror of the people', derived from the elements νίκη (nikē) meaning 'victory' and λαός (laos) meaning 'people'.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• In French, From Greek nikē + laos, 'victory of the people'; name of Saint Nicolas.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, From Gk. Nikolaos, 'victory of the people'; saint name.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, From Greek Nikolaos, meaning 'victory of the people'.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, From Greek Nikolaos, 'victory of the people'.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name●(measured from records)

• Nicholas Ib. 820ITpope
• Nicolaus IIIb. 1215ITnot in their usual namePope from 1277 to 1280
• Nicholas IVb. 1227ITpope of the Catholic Church from 1288 to 1292 (1227–1292)
• Georges Cuvierb. 1769FRnot in their usual nameFrench naturalist, zoologist and paleontologist (1769–1832)
• Sadi Carnotb. 1796FRnot in their usual nameFrench physicist, the "father of thermodynamics" (1796–1832)
• Camille Flammarionb. 1842FRnot in their usual nameFrench astronomer and author (1842–1925)
• François Hollandeb. 1954FRnot in their usual namePresident of France from 2012 to 2017 (born 1954)
• Nicolas Sarkozyb. 1955FR23rd president of the French Republic from 2007 to 2012
• Nicolas Anelkab. 1979FRFrench football manager (born 1979)
• Nicolás Otamendib. 1988ARArgentine association football player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

How to address them○(machine-generated)

A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.

Evidence●(measured from records)

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Frequently asked questions

What are other forms of the name Nicolas?

In the etymology graph, Nicholas, Nick and Klaus are forms of the same name in other languages.

Where does the name Nicolas come from?

The name Nicolas, of Greek origin, means 'victory of the people.' In the Bible, Nicolas was one of the seven men chosen for the special ministry of serving the community in the early Jerusalem church,… Recorded by Biblical Names Compiled Database.

In which country does Nicolas have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 711 thousand people named Nicholas, more than in any other country we hold.

How do you pronounce Nicolas?

A machine transcription gives /nikolas/ (IPA) for Spanish.

What does the name Nicolas mean?

Recorded meaning: The name Nicolas, of Greek origin, means 'victory of the people.'

How common is the name Nicolas?

In Brazil, the national register counted 310,593 people named Nicolas in 2022, about 1 in 682 residents.

How common is Nicolas compared with other names?

In the United States, Nicolas is the 108th most common given name of 2,815,431 given names recorded there.

Is Nicolas a male or female name?

Nicolas is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.