Niklaus
A masculine German name derived from Greek meaning "victory of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 2,278 living Americans carry the first name Niklaus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Niklaus today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Niklaus births was 2021 (282 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Niklaus. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Niklaus with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Niklaus is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.3K
~ 1 in 150,463 Americans
Peak year
2021
282 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,232
Tracked since 1979
Census
Niklaus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,007 people with the first name Niklaus, which placed it at #12,383 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,383
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,007 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Niklaus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Niklaus is White at 62.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.4%) and Two or More Races (8.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Niklaus described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Niklaus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.6% · 630
- Hispanic or Latino21.4% · 216
- Two or more races8.1% · 82
- Black or African American6.0% · 60
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 7
Popularity
Niklaus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Niklaus from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,120 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Niklaus 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 Niklaus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Niklaus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 33 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Niklaus, while South Dakota, South Carolina, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Niklaus
The name Niklaus has its origins in the Greek language and culture. It is derived from the Greek name Nikolaos, which is a combination of the words "nikos" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people." The name Nikolaos was popularized by St. Nicholas, the 4th-century Christian saint who was the inspiration for the modern-day Santa Claus.
In the early Christian era, the name Nikolaos spread throughout Europe and was adapted into various languages and cultures. The Germanic form of the name, Niklaus, emerged in regions such as Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It became a popular name among the Germanic peoples, particularly in the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Niklaus can be found in the historical records of the Holy Roman Empire. Niklaus von Flüe, also known as Brother Klaus (1417-1487), was a Swiss hermit and mystic who is revered as a national hero in Switzerland. He played a significant role in maintaining the unity of the Swiss Confederacy during the 15th century.
Another notable historical figure with the name Niklaus was Niklaus Manuel Deutsch (1484-1530), a Swiss painter, poet, and writer who was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation. His satirical plays and woodcuts criticized the Catholic Church and played a role in the spread of Protestant ideas.
In the realm of science, Niklaus Wirth (1934-2022) was a Swiss computer scientist and pioneer in the field of programming languages. He is best known for developing the programming languages Pascal, Modula-2, and Oberon, which have had a lasting impact on computer science education and software development.
Niklaus Mikaelson is a fictional character from the popular TV series "The Vampire Diaries" and its spin-off "The Originals." He is one of the first vampires in existence and is known for his cunning, power, and complex relationships within the Mikaelson family.
In the world of literature, Niklaus Lenau (1802-1850) was an Austrian poet and writer who is considered one of the most significant lyric poets of the Biedermeier period. His works, such as "Schilflieder" and "Faust," explore themes of nature, love, and the human condition.
These are just a few examples of notable historical figures who bore the name Niklaus. While the name has its roots in Greek and Christian traditions, it has been embraced and adapted by various cultures throughout history, particularly in Germanic regions.
People
Niklaus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Niklaus 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
Niklaus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Niklaus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,278 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Niklaus 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 150,463 US residents.
Is Niklaus a common name?
We classify Niklaus as "Rare". It ranks above 94.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,299 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Niklaus most popular?
The single biggest year for Niklaus was 2021, when 282 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Niklaus is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Niklaus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,007 people with the name Niklaus, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,383 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Niklaus in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Niklaus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Niklaus appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,002 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Niklaus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Niklaus is White at 62.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.4%) and Two or More Races (8.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Niklaus most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Niklaus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.6% (630 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Niklaus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Niklaus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Niklaus 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 Niklaus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Niklaus 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 Niklaus 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.
How many people have Niklaus as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Niklaus, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.