Boy

Nikolai

nik-oh-LY

Beautiful But Not Top 100 ↑ Rising

✦ Meaning

“Victory of the people (Greek nike + laos), the Russian form carries aristocratic gravitas from Dostoevsky's era and Imperial Russian literati.”

Popularity Over Time

Nikolai US popularity rank over timeRank 4248 in 1961 to rank 473 in 2018. Lower rank numbers are more popular.#473#2361#42481960198020002024

Currently ranked #589 in the United States.

Origin

GreekRussian

Syllables

3

Nicknames

NikoKolyaNik

Style

GrandStrongElegantRomantic

Famous Bearers

  • Nikolai Gogol
  • Nikolai Tesla
  • Prince Nikolai of Denmark

Collections

Literary Names → Beautiful But Not Top 100 → Old Money Names → Royal Names → Vintage Revival →

Similar Names

Nicolai

Greek Rare & Uncommon

Nikolaus

Germanic Rare & Uncommon

Adrian

Latin Top 100

Dimitri

Greek Beautiful But Not Top 100

Sibling Name Ideas

Anastasia

Greek Beautiful But Not Top 100

Dimitri

Greek Beautiful But Not Top 100

Tatiana

Latin Rare & Uncommon

Alexei

Greek Rare & Uncommon

Sophia

Greek Top 10

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Cross-Cultural Notes

Scandinavian, Russian, Eastern European; recognizable globally

People Also Ask

Victory of the people (Greek nike + laos), the Russian form carries aristocratic gravitas from Dostoevsky's era and Imperial Russian literati.

Nikolai is currently ranked #589 in the United States. It's trending up as more parents discover it.

Popular nicknames for Nikolai include Niko, Kolya, Nik.

Names that pair beautifully with Nikolai include Anastasia, Dimitri, Tatiana, Alexei, Sophia.