Nikholai
Victorious warrior or conqueror of the people.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Nikholai. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nikholai today is around 3 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nikholai births was 2023 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nikholai. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Nikholai. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2023
5 babies that year
Average age
3
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,580
Tracked since 2023
Popularity
Nikholai: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Nikholai 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 Nikholai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Nikholai
The name Nikholai originates from the Greek language and culture, with its roots dating back to ancient times. It is a variant of the name Nicholas, which derives from the Greek words "niko" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people." Thus, the name Nikholai carries the meaning of "victor of the people."
In early Christian history, the name Nikholai gained significance as it was borne by Saint Nicholas, the 4th-century Bishop of Myra, who was renowned for his generosity and kindness towards children. This association with the beloved Saint Nicholas contributed to the popularity of the name across Europe and beyond.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nikholai can be found in the chronicles of the Kievan Rus', an ancient East Slavic state centered in present-day Ukraine and parts of Russia. In the 11th century, Prince Nikholai Sviatoslavich, the grandson of Prince Vladimir the Great, was a prominent figure in the region.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Nikholai. Nikholai Gogol (1809-1852) was a renowned Russian novelist and playwright, best known for his works such as "Dead Souls" and "The Overcoat." Nikholai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) was a celebrated Russian composer and a key figure in the Russian Romantic period, known for his orchestral works and operas.
Another prominent Nikholai was Nikholai Vavilov (1887-1943), a Soviet botanist and geneticist who made significant contributions to plant genetics and the study of crop diversity. His expeditions to collect plant specimens from around the world laid the foundation for modern seed banks.
In the realm of science, Nikholai Lobachevsky (1792-1856) was a Russian mathematician who pioneered the development of non-Euclidean geometry, which had a profound impact on the field of mathematics and physics.
The name Nikholai has also been borne by Russian rulers, such as Tsar Nikholai I (1796-1855), who ruled the Russian Empire from 1825 to 1855, and Tsar Nikholai II (1868-1918), the last Emperor of Russia, whose reign ended with the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.
People
Nikholai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nikholai 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
Nikholai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nikholai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nikholai 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Nikholai a common name?
We classify Nikholai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nikholai most popular?
The single biggest year for Nikholai was 2023, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nikholai is about 3 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Nikholai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nikholai a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nikholai 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.
Is Nikholai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nikholai in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Nikholai can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Nikholai?
Find out how many people have the name Nikholai on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.