Find out how popular the last name Nicholai is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Nicholai.

Nicholai, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Nicholai surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nicholai in America

Nicholai is the 122314th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nicholai surname appeared 141 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Nicholai.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nicholai to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Nicholai

The surname Nicholai has its origins in Eastern Europe, specifically in Russia and the Slavic countries. It is a patronymic name, derived from the masculine given name Nicholas, which means "victory of the people" in Greek.

The name Nicholai emerged in the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century, as a way to indicate a person's lineage and family connections. In Russian and other Slavic cultures, patronymic surnames were commonly formed by adding the suffix "-ovich" or "-evich" to the father's given name.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Nicholai can be found in the Velvet Book, a 16th-century document that recorded the genealogy of Russian nobility. The name is also mentioned in various church records and census documents from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Historically, the Nicholai surname has been associated with both nobility and peasantry in Russia and other Slavic regions. Notable figures bearing this surname include Pyotr Nicholai (1826-1904), a Russian military engineer and writer, and Leonid Nicholai (1844-1908), a Russian chess master and author.

Another prominent individual with the surname Nicholai was Nikolai Nikolaevich Nicholai (1858-1918), a Russian general who served during World War I. He was a descendant of the Nicholai family from the village of Tula, and his military exploits earned him recognition and respect.

In the 19th century, the surname Nicholai also gained prominence in the arts and literature. Aleksandr Nicholai (1856-1919) was a Russian painter known for his landscapes and portraits, while Mikhail Nicholai (1854-1920) was a celebrated novelist and playwright.

Throughout history, variations of the surname Nicholai have emerged, such as Nikolaev, Nikolayev, and Nikolayevich, reflecting the different spellings and regional variations in Slavic languages.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nicholai

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Nicholai.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Nicholai was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Nicholai has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Nicholai was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Nicholai, please contact us.

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