Nicolai

Meaning: Victory of the people
Origin: From Greek (via Latin Nicolaus/Nicholas, from νίκη 'victory' + λαός 'people')

Boy's name · #2590 in the US (2025) · 2010s wave

Popularity over time

Nicolai's best rank, #1883, came in 2015; it has settled back to #2590 today. Roughly 1,900 boys have been named Nicolai since 1962.

See where Nicolai is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 3 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

See how Nicolai ranks in other countries and regions.

#171 in Norway (2025) · #739 in Sweden (2025).

Among 512 notable people named Nicolai:

Medical professionals appear 1.76× more often than among typical names — e.g. Nicolai L. Volodos, Soviet surgeon (1934–2016).

Nicolai is the less common spelling of Nikolai — about 10% of babies given the name are written this way; Nikolai itself ranked #605 in 2025.

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