Niels

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Nils in SE Sweden, DE Germany, NO Norway and 14 more, Нильс in RU Russia, TR Türkiye and Нільс in UA Ukraine.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 19 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Niels is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Western Frisian given name190K records spelled Niels8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, Germany, United States, Belgium

  Languages: Western Frisian, Dutch, English

  Also written Ñïęls, Níels

• Arabic given name817 records spelled Niels3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, United States, Belgium, United Arab Emirates

  Also written Níels

• Turkish given name563 records spelled Niels2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, Belgium, Türkiye, United States

  Also written Níels

52 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Niels is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, 106 Träger; Patronym aus Kurzform von Cornelius, mit Wegfall der ersten Silbe und Assimilation e > i.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 6: Familiennamen aus Rufnamen

• In German, zu Rufname Niels, dän. Kurzform von Nikolaus; teils auch Cornelius

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 6: Familiennamen aus Rufnamen

• In Swedish, Niels är en dansk utveckling av → Nikolaus. En känd namnbärare är den danske atomfysikern Niels Bohr (1885–1962).

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In English, element

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In French, Forme danoise de Niel; origine irlandaise, « champion ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 116 years between 1893–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Nielsb. 1063DEKing of Denmark
• Nicolas Stenob. 1638DKnot in their usual namePioneer in anatomy and geology, bishop (1638–1686)
• Niels Henrik Abelb. 1802NONorwegian mathematician (1802–1829)
• Niels Gadeb. 1817DKDanish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher (1817–1890)
• Niels Neergaardb. 1854DKDanish politician (1854-1936)
• Niels Ryberg Finsenb. 1860DKFaroese physician and scientist of Icelandic descent
• Niels Bohrb. 1885DKDanish physicist (1885–1962)
• Poul Nielsenb. 1891DKnot in their usual nameDanish footballer (1891-1962)
• Aage Niels Bohrb. 1922DKDanish physicist (1922–2009)
• Niels Arestrupb. 1949FRFrench actor, film director and screenwriter (1949–2024)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 525 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Niels?

We estimate roughly 227 thousand people bear Niels (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Niels have the most bearers?

We estimate about 141 thousand people bear Niels in Sweden, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled nils.

Where is Niels most common?

Niels is densest in Sweden, where the national register counts about 1 in 72 people carrying it.

How common is Niels compared with other names?

In Sweden, Niels is the 53rd most common given name of 36,824 given names recorded there.

Is Niels a male or female name?

Niels is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Niels mean?

Recorded meaning: Dutch/Scandinavian form of Nicholas, from Greek 'victory of the people'.