Nikolai

“Variant of Nicholas — The people's victory” — Greek, via Latin and Old French origin

Boy's name · #605 in the US (2025) · 2020s

Nikolai has appeared in US records since 1960 — best rank #473 (2018) · 11,027 babies named Nikolai all-time · 1 in 3,700 boys born in 2025.

Around the world: about 1 in 370 boys in Norway (2025) · about 1 in 4,200 boys in Austria (2025) · about 1 in 4,700 boys in Canada (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 34 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Nikolais

Nikolai Gogol — Russian writer of Ukrainian origin (1809–1852)
Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky — Russian mathematician (1792–1856)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov — Russian composer (1844–1908)
Nikolai Noskov — Soviet and Russian singer and song writer
Nikolai Bukharin — Russian revolutionary and politician (1888–1938)

Among 2,477 notable people named Nikolai:

Military figures appear 4.2× more often than among typical names — e.g. Nikolai Yudenich, Russian general.

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