Nicholai
Masculine name of Greek origin meaning "victory of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 995 living Americans carry the first name Nicholai. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nicholai today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nicholai births was 2017 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nicholai. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
995
~ 1 in 344,477 Americans
Peak year
2017
51 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,579
Tracked since 1962
Popularity
Nicholai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nicholai from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 391 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nicholai by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Nicholai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nicholais live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Nicholai, while Alaska, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nicholai
The name Nicholai is derived from the Greek name Nikolaos, which is a combination of the words "niko" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people." It has its origins in the ancient Greek language and culture, dating back to the classical period.
The name gained widespread popularity in the Christian tradition, as it was borne by St. Nicholas, the 4th-century bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey, who was renowned for his generosity and became the inspiration for the modern-day Santa Claus figure. St. Nicholas was venerated across Europe and the Eastern Orthodox Church, leading to the widespread use of the name.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Nicholai can be found in the ancient Greek text "The Life of St. Nicholas" by Michael the Archimandrite, written in the 9th century. This text recounts the life and miracles of St. Nicholas and played a significant role in the promotion of his cult and the subsequent popularity of his name.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Nicholai. One of the most famous was Nicholai Gogol (1809-1852), a celebrated Russian novelist, dramatist, and short story writer, known for his works such as "Dead Souls" and "The Overcoat." Another prominent Nicholai was Nicholai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), a renowned Russian composer and a member of the influential group of composers known as "The Five."
In the field of science, Nicholai Lobachevsky (1792-1856) was a Russian mathematician who made significant contributions to non-Euclidean geometry, while Nicholai Vavilov (1887-1943) was a prominent Soviet botanist and geneticist who made groundbreaking discoveries in the field of plant genetics.
The name Nicholai has also been associated with royalty, as evidenced by Nicholai I (1796-1855), who ruled as the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until his death, and Nicholai II (1868-1918), the last tsar of Russia, whose reign was marked by the tumultuous events of World War I and the Russian Revolution.
People
Nicholai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nicholai as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nicholai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nicholai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 995 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nicholai going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 344,477 US residents.
Is Nicholai a common name?
We classify Nicholai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,011 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nicholai most popular?
The single biggest year for Nicholai was 2017, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nicholai is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Nicholai a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nicholai in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.