Nicolai

“Victory of the people” — Greek (via Latin Nicolaus/Nicholas, from νίκη 'victory' + λαός 'people') origin

Boy's name · #2590 in the US (2025) · 2010s

Nicolai's best rank, #1883, came in 2015; it has settled back to #2590 today. Roughly 1,900 boys have been named Nicolai since 1962. Nicolai is the less common spelling of Nikolai — about 10% of babies given the name are written this way; Nikolai itself ranked #605 in 2025.

Around the world: about 1 in 800 boys in Norway (2025) · about 1 in 8,300 boys in Sweden (2025).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 3 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Nicolais

Nicolai Abildgaard — Danish painter, sculptor and architect (1743–1809)
Nicolai Hartmann — German philosopher (1882–1950)
Nicolai Jørgensen — Danish association football player (1991-)
Nicolai Boilesen — Danish footballer
Nicolai Ghiaurov — opera singer (1929-2004)

What Nicolais become

Among 512 notable people named Nicolai:

Medical professionals appear 1.76× more often than among typical names — e.g. Nicolai L. Volodos, Ukrainian surgeon (b. 1934 d. 2016).

Similar names: Arion · Nikolaos · Malachai · Kadence · Nikolas · Niklaus

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service