The Nikolaus Family Name

In old registers, Nikolaus often stands in for Nickel. The name is generally explained as “Little Nikolaus”.

• Before spelling was standardised, one family could appear under several forms.
• Records show Nikolaus as one of the forms Nickel took over time.
• The same family of names includes Nickels and Nückel.
• Nikolaus ranked 42,163 in the 2010 US Census, with 515 people answering to the name. That puts it among the top 50,000 US surnames.

Heraldry and the Nikolaus name

Arms linked to Nickel and its spellings were granted to individual families; our heraldry team traces which line they belonged to. Get the complete Nikolaus report, with a museum-style coat of arms.