Klaus is a
German,
Dutch and
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
n given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name
Nicholas
Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...
.
Notable persons whose family name is Klaus
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Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American baseball player
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Chris Klaus (born 1973), American entrepreneur
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Felix Klaus (born 1992), German football player, son of Fred Klaus
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Frank Klaus (1887–1948), German-American boxer, 1913 Middleweight Champion
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Fred Klaus (born 1967), German football player and manager, father of Felix Klaus
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Josef Klaus (1910–2001), Chancellor of Austria 1966–1970
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Karl Ernst Claus (1796–1864), Russian chemist
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Václav Klaus (born 1941), Czech politician, former President of the Czech Republic
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Walter K. Klaus (1912–2012), American politician and farmer
Notable persons whose given name is Klaus
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Brother Klaus, Swiss patron saint
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Klaus Augenthaler (born 1957), German football player and manager
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Klaus Badelt (born 1967), German composer
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Klaus Barbie
Nikolaus Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German officer of the ''Schutzstaffel'' and ''Sicherheitsdienst'' who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortu ...
(1913–1991), German SS-Hauptsturmführer and Holocaust Perpetrator
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Klaus Bargsten (1911–2000), German captain and sole survivor of the sunken U-boat U-521 in World War II
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Klaus Berntsen (1844–1927), Danish politician
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Klaus Dede (1935–2018), German writer
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Klaus Doldinger (born 1936), German musician
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Klaus Fischer (born 1949), German footballer
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Klaus Flouride (born 1949), bassist of the Dead Kennedys
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Klaus Fuchs (1911–1988), German theoretical physicist and atomic spy
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Klaus Gerhart (born 1965), outdoorsman and photographer
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Klaus Iohannis (born 1959), Romanian politician
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Klaus Isekenmeier (born 1975), German decathlete
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Klaus Kinkel (1936–2019), German politician
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Klaus Kinski (1926–1991), German actor
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Klaus Köchl (born 1961), Austrian politician
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Klaus Lage (born 1950), German musician
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Klaus Lanzarini (born 1977), Italian freestyle swimmer
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Klaus Laser (1942–2020), German actor
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Klaus Löwitsch (1936–2002), German actor
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Klaus Mäkelä, (born 1996) Finnish conductor and cellist
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Klaus Meine (born 1948), lead singer of German hard rock band
Scorpions
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Klaus Mertens (born 1949), German singer
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Klaus Nomi (1944–1983), German entertainer
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Klaus Ofczarek (1939–2020), Austrian opera singer and actor
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Klaus Perwas (born 1971), German basketball coach and former player
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Klaus Rogge (born 1979), German rower
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Klaus Schilling (1871–1946), German experimenter in Nazi human concentration camp experiments executed for war crimes
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Klaus Schulten, computational biophysicist
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Klaus Schulze (1947-2022), German electronic music composer and musician
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Klaus Schwab (born 1938), German professor who founded the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...
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Klaus Tennstedt (1926–1998), German conductor
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Klaus Voormann (born 1938), artist, musician, and record producer who was associated with the early days of The Beatles
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Klaus Wowereit (born 1953), German politician
Nickname
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Klaus Maria Brandauer (born 1943), theatrical name of Klaus Georg Steng, Austrian actor
Characters
*Klaus from ''
Beyblade: Metal Masters''
*Klaus from ''
Xenoblade Chronicles'' and ''
Xenoblade Chronicles 2''
*Klaus from ''
Mother 3''
*Klaus Baudelaire from ''
A Series of Unfortunate Events
''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' is a series of thirteen Children's literature, children's novels written by American author Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books follow the turbulent lives of orphaned siblings List of A ...
''
*Klaus Daimler from ''
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou''
*Klaus Hargreeves from ''
The Umbrella Academy
''The Umbrella Academy'' is an Absurdist fiction, absurdist Superhero fiction, superhero comic book series created by writer Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá. It follows a dysfunctional family of adopted superhero siblings with bizarre powers a ...
''
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Klaus Heisler from ''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
''
*Klaus Mikaelson from ''
The Vampire Diaries'' and ''
The Originals''
*Klaus von Wolfstadt from ''
Maiden Rose''
*Baron Klaus Wulfenbach from ''
Girl Genius''
*Klaus from ''
Klaus''
*Klaus from ''
Animal Crossing: New Horizons''
*Klaus, the titular character from ''
Forklift Driver Klaus – The First Day on the Job''
See also
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Claus, a variant of the name
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Klaukkala, Finnish village, whose name is partly based on the name Klaus
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Klavs, a variant of the name
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Kloyz'', a Yiddish school
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Klaus ''
References
{{Reflist
German masculine given names
Masculine given names
Dutch masculine given names
Norwegian masculine given names
Swedish masculine given names
Danish masculine given names
Finnish masculine given names
Icelandic masculine given names
Surnames from given names