Niklaus is a masculine Slavic

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

and

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

. Niklaus comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word ''nikolaos'' (νικόλαος), meaning victory of the people. It’s a variant of the likewise Greek-origin 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 ...

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

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 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 Niklaus Gerber (8 June 1850 – 9 February 1914) was a Swiss dairy chemist and industrialist. He was born in 1850 in Thun, Switzerland. He attended the University of Bern and University of Zurich, studied chemistry in Paris and Munich and spent ...

(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 Niklaus Riggenbach (21 May 1817 – 25 July 1899) was an Alsatian-born Swiss mechanic, railway engineer, politician and inventor of the rack railway system as well as the counter-pressure brake. Riggenbach was primarily known for introducin ...

(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 Niklaus Emil Wirth ( IPA: ) (15 February 1934 – 1 January 2024) was a Swiss computer scientist. He designed several programming languages, including Pascal, and pioneered several classic topics in software engineering. In 1984, he won the Tu ...

(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 ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

'' and '' The Originals''

Given name

Middle name

Surname

Fictional characters

See also