Meaning and history
Niklaus is a German and Swiss German form of Nicholas. Nicholas derives from Greek Nikolaos, combining nikē, “victory,” with laos, “people,” and is conventionally interpreted as “victory of the people.” Saint Nicholas of Myra, renowned for generosity, inspired later European gift-giving traditions and Santa Claus. Notable bearers include Swiss computer scientist Niklaus Wirth, creator of the Pascal programming language, and Swiss theologian Niklaus Brantschen.
20062006: 16 births, rank #5,303
2007: 10 births, rank #7,590
2008: 5 births, rank #12,553
2009: 6 births, rank #10,994
2010: 7 births, rank #9,693
20112011: no US SSA record for this spelling
2012: 14 births, rank #6,001
2013: 37 births, rank #2,998
2014: 63 births, rank #2,154
2015: 102 births, rank #1,581
20162016: 118 births, rank #1,456
2017: 156 births, rank #1,191
2018: 183 births, rank #1,079
2019: 221 births, rank #968
2020: 255 births, rank #886
20212021: 282 births, rank #842
2022: 236 births, rank #959
2023: 185 births, rank #1,137
2024: 163 births, rank #1,231
20252025: 130 births, rank #1,401
Niklaus moved from #844 to #962 for boys between 2021 and 2022. Its highest annual birth count came in 2021, with 282 births.