Nikolai
Top 1000
About Nikolai
Russian forms, like Russian supermodels, are hot these days. This is a strong, worldly way to make Nicholas new; it was chosen for his son by Barry Bonds, Jr. Nikolai also comes with several attractive nickname options, including approachable Nik, spunky Niko, or even hip Kai. A traditional nickname for Nikolai in Russia is Kolya.
Pronounced nik-uh-LY.
As of October 2026, Nikolai ranked #605 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #473 in 2018, Nameberry popularity #678.
Editor's take: The name Nikolai is a boy's name of Russian origin meaning "people of victory".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #540 | 516 | 268.6 |
| 2015 | #476 | 629 | 328.2 |
| 2016 | #480 | 639 | 336.7 |
| 2017 | #508 | 572 | 309 |
| 2018 | #473 | 614 | 338.1 |
| 2019 | #516 | 553 | 308.2 |
| 2020 | #546 | 520 | 301.3 |
| 2021 | #479 | 622 | 355.5 |
| 2022 | #583 | 490 | 280.6 |
| 2023 | #605 | 468 | 273.6 |
| 2024 | #589 | 484 | 280.9 |
| 2025 | #605 | 469 | 274.6 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Nikolai.
- Dimitri
- Andreas
- Dmitri
- Darius
- Castiel
- Dante
- Lucien
- Alexei
- Rafael
- Leonidas
- Fabian
- Demetrius
- Matthias
- Zanele
- Alastair
- Malachi
- Alaric
- Adriel
- Emilio
- Damien
Nikolai on lists
Famous Nikolais
- Nikolai William Alexander Frederik
Prince of Denmark
- Nikolai Philippe Fraiture
American bassist of band The Strokes
- Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol
Russian novelist and playwright
- Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky
Korsakov, Russian composer
- (Nanhoï) Nikolai Kinski
French,American actor
- Nikolai Alexandrovich Kulikovsky
brother,in,law of Tsar Nicholas II and son,in,law of Tsar Alexander III
- Nikolai Volkoff (born Josip Nikolai Peruzović)
Croatian pro wrestler
- Nikolai Matveevich Pozdneev
Russian painter
- Nikolai Nikolaevich Baskakov
Russian painter
Nikolai in pop culture
- Nikolai
character on TV's Six Feet Under
- Nikolai Carpathia
the antichrist in the Left Behind series
- Nikolai Delphiki
brother of Julian "Bean" Delphiki in Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" series
- Nikolai Lantsov
character in the Grisha Trilogy