Nikolai
The story
Nikolai is the Russian and Bulgarian form of Nicholas in its most familiar transcription, and the Greek underneath is unusually plain: Nikolaos, victory of the people, from nike, victory, and laos, people. Behind the Name's entry for the fuller spelling Nikolay names the novelist Nikolay Gogol, and its Nicholas entry counts two tsars of Russia among the name's bearers without naming them. December 6 is its name day across four countries, the old feast of Saint Nicholas. The American record picks Nikolai up in the 1960s with 52 boys and never looks back: a rise in every completed decade since, through 1,632 in the 2000s to 5,060 across the 2010s, with 3,057 so far in this one, well past half the previous total. On this site Nikolai already anchors its own small family, with Kolya, the traditional Russian pet form, and Niko registered beside it.
Sources list Nikolai among the forms of Nicholas (Bulgarian · Russian).
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Nikolai peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
80 people · the #48,268 first name in Brazil · median age 17
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Nikolai
Most people given the name Nikolai in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Nikolai deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Nikolai truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Nikolai fits with your family’s names and surname.
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