Niklaus (name)

Niklaus is a masculine Slavic given name and surname. Niklaus comes from the Greek word nikolaos (νικόλαος), meaning victory of the people. It’s a variant of the likewise Greek-origin given name Nicholas.

The traditional short forms of this name are Nik and Klaus, being primarily used in Switzerland and Germany.

Notable people with the name include the following:

Given name

 * Niklaus Aeschbacher (1917 – 1995), Swiss composer and conductor
 * Niklaus Bütler (1786–1854), Swiss painter
 * Niklaus Dachselhofer (1595 – 1670), Swiss politician
 * Niklaus Franz von Bachmann (1740 – 1831), Swiss general
 * Niklaus Friedrich von Steiger (1729 – 1799), Swiss politician
 * Niklaus Gerber (1850 – 1914), Swiss dairy chemist
 * Niklaus Grunwald, American biologist and plant pathologist
 * Niklaus Brantschen (born 1937), Swiss Jesuit, Zen master
 * Niklaus Leuenberger (1615 – 1653), Swiss peasant
 * Niklaus Manuel Deutsch (c. 1484 – 1530), Swiss artist
 * Niklaus Meienberg (1940 – 1993), Swiss writer and investigative journalist
 * Niklaus Niggeler (1817 – 1872), Swiss politician
 * Niklaus Pfluger (born 1958), Swiss Catholic priest
 * Niklaus Riggenbach (1817 – 1899), Swiss inventor, engineer and locomotive builder
 * Niklaus Schilling (1944 – 2016), Swiss film director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
 * Niklaus Schurtenberger (born 1968), Swiss equestrian
 * Niklaus Stump (1920 – 2005), Swiss cross-country and Nordic combined skier
 * Niklaus Troxler (born 1947), Swiss graphic designer
 * Niklaus Weckmann (c. 1481-1526), German sculptor
 * Niklaus Wirth (1934–2024), Swiss computer scientist

Middle name

 * Franz Niklaus König (1765–1832), Swiss painter

Surname

 * André Niklaus (born 1981), German decathlete
 * Stephan Niklaus (born 1958), Swiss decathlete
 * Mandy Niklaus (born 1956), East German fencer

Fictional characters

 * Brad Niklaus from Sunset Beach
 * Niklaus “Klaus” Mikaelson from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals