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Boy · Greek, through Scandinavian
Nils
Say it: NILS
Meaning
A Scandinavian form of Nicholas, from Greek nikē 'victory' and laos 'people'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Spread through the cult of Saint Nicholas in the Middle Ages and among the most common Scandinavian names for centuries.
Its wave through time
Most used in the 1880s
In the United States
- 2,982 babies given this name since 1888
- At its height in 1888, about 1 in 17,300 boys
- 20 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
| Danish | Niels |
|---|---|
| Finnish | Niilo |
| Sami | Niillas |
| English | Nicholas |
Famous bearers
- Nils Holgersson, hero of Selma Lagerlöf's novel
- Niels Bohr, Danish physicist
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Calendars of saints and name days
- Parish baptism registers
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.