Meaning of the nameNicolau

Male
Greek origin
Ni-co-lau

Nicolau is a masculine name of Greek origin, the Portuguese form of Nikólaos, which means 'victory of the people'.

Meaning

“victory of the people”

Source: Wiktionary: Nicolau · Behind the Name: Nicholas

People (2022): 5,941
Rank in Brazil: #2,430
Median age: 62 years
2010 Census: 8,177; people

Nicolau in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Nicolau, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1950s (1,455 people).

24 women 5,917 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Nicolau is most common

States with the highest share of people named Nicolau in the population, in the 2022 Census.

All states

State	People	% of population
São Paulo	1,121	0.003%
Paraná	806	0.007%
Rio Grande do Sul	634	0.006%
Santa Catarina	550	0.007%
Minas Gerais	493	0.002%
Bahia	357	0.003%
Rio de Janeiro	313	0.002%
Pará	224	0.003%
Ceará	140	0.002%
Mato Grosso do Sul	139	0.005%
Maranhão	127	0.002%
Goiás	124	0.002%
Espírito Santo	120	0.003%
Mato Grosso	115	0.003%
Piauí	103	0.003%
Pernambuco	97	0.001%
Amazonas	87	0.002%
Distrito Federal	71	0.003%
Rio Grande do Norte	58	0.002%
Tocantins	52	0.003%
Paraíba	50	0.001%
Rondônia	39	0.003%
Sergipe	30	0.001%
Alagoas	26	0.001%
Amapá	25	0.003%
Acre	22	0.003%
Roraima	18	0.003%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Nicolau

Wiktionary traces Nicolau to Old Portuguese Nicolao, a learned borrowing from Latin Nīcolāum, which comes from Ancient Greek Νικόλαος (Nikólaos). Behind the Name explains the Greek as a combination of nike ('victory') and laos ('people') and lists Nicolau as the Portuguese form, with Nico as a diminutive. Wiktionary also records the variants Nicolas and Nikolas. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 5,941 people named Nicolau, with a median age of 62.

Sources

Wiktionary: Nicolau · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
Behind the Name: Nicholas · behindthename.com · meaning

Questions about the name Nicolau

What does the name Nicolau mean?

Nicolau means “victory of the people”, according to Wiktionary and Behind the Name.

How many people are named Nicolau in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 5,941 people with the first name Nicolau, which ranks it number 2,430 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1950s.

Is Nicolau a boy's or a girl's name?

Nicolau is a male name: in the 2022 Census, 24 women and 5,917 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Nicolau?

Nicolau is a name of Greek origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Nicolau most common?

Proportionally, in Santa Catarina: 0.007% of the state's population is named Nicolau (550 people), according to the 2022 Census.

Names that also mean victory

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More names of Greek origin

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Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Nicolau with a source. See the methodology.