Niklas

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Nicklas in DK Denmark, FI Finland, GL Greenland and 3 more.

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 11 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◐

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

• Finnish given name52K records spelled Niklas4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Sweden, United States, Norway

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian

  Also written Nikläs

• French given name2.0K records spelled Niklas3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Sweden, Spain, Finland

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Ñiklãs

• Croatian given name524 records spelled Niklas20 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Sweden, Croatia, Finland, United States

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Serbian

  Also written Niclas, Nicklas, Никлас

42 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●

Niklas 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, a male given name from Nikolaus

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, Niklas är en form av → Nikolaus. Formen kom i bruk under 1600-talet i stället för det mer vardagliga → Nils. En känd namnbärare är sångaren och låtskrivaren Niklas Strömstedt (f. 1958). I både den rikssvenska och finlandssvenska almanackan 6 december.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In German, Karte zeigt die Vokalqualität in der Endsilbe (unsynkopiert/synkopiert); 12 Typen/2427 Belege.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 1: Graphematik/Phonologie der Familiennamen I, Vokalismus

• In German, männl. Vom., Kurzform von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In Russian, Niklas Zrini. 1501.

  as a word·A Dictionary of Period Russian Names (Wickenden / Goldschmidt 1996)

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●

NO SSB — Navn (1880–present) — 57 years between 1969–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Niklas Luhmannb. 1927DEGerman sociologist, administration expert, and social systems theorist (1927-1998)
• Niklas Rådströmb. 1953SESwedish writer
• Nick Bostromb. 1973SEnot in their usual namephilosopher and writer (born 1973)
• Niklas Kohrtb. 1980DEGerman actor
• Niklas Moisanderb. 1985FIFinnish footballer
• Alexander Meyerb. 1991DEnot in their usual nameGerman footballer (born 1991)
• Niklas Süleb. 1995DEGerman association football player (born 1995)
• Niklas Starkb. 1995DEGerman footballer
• Niklas Kaulb. 1998DEGerman decathlete
• Niklas Dorschb. 1998DEGerman footballer

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 · 488 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Niklas?

We estimate roughly 54 thousand people bear Niklas (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Niklas have the most bearers?

Niklas is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled niklas.

Where is Niklas most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Niklas is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 323 people — even though Germany holds more of our records for it.

How common is Niklas compared with other names?

In Germany, Niklas is the 305th most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Niklas a male or female name?

Niklas 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 Niklas mean?

Recorded meaning: a male given name, equivalent to English Nicholas