Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Latvian variant of

Niels Niels is a male given name, equivalent to Nicholas, which is common in Denmark, Belgium, Norway (formerly) and the Netherlands. The Norwegian and Swedish variant is Nils. The name is a developed short form of Nicholas or Greek Nicolaos after Sai ...

, cognate to

Nicholas Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglicanism, Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the n ...

People and animals with the given name

* Nils Bergström (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player *

Nils Björk Lieutenant General Nils Axel Hjalmar Björk (25 February 1898 – 15 April 1989) was a senior Swedish Army officer. He served as Commanding General of the VI Military District from 1951 to 1963. Early life Björk was born on 25 February 1898 in ...

(1898–1989), Swedish Army lieutenant general *

Nils Dacke Nils Dacke (died 1543) was a Swedish yeoman who was the leader of a mid-16th century peasant revolt in the historic province of Småland in southern Sweden. The resulting Dacke War ( sv, Dackefejden) was fought against King Gustav I of Sweden ...

(died 1543), Swedish rebel *

Nils-Joel Englund Nils-Joel Englund (7 April 1907 – 22 June 1995) was a Swedish cross-country skier who competed in the 1930s. He won a bronze medal in 50 km at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Englund also won six medals at the N ...

(1907–1995), Swedish cross-country skier *

Nils Ericson Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Latvian variant of Niels, cognate to Nicholas. People and animals with the given name * Nils Bergström (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player * Nils Björk (1898–1989) ...

(1802–1870), Swedish inventor and engineer *

Nils Frahm Nils Frahm (born 20 September 1982) is a German musician, composer, and record producer based in Berlin. He is known for combining classical and electronic music and for an unconventional approach to the piano in which he mixes a grand piano, upr ...

(born 1982), German pianist and producer *

Nils Frykdahl Nils Frykdahl is an American musician, most known for his work with the bands Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Idiot Flesh. He is also a member of the bands Free Salamander Exhibit, Faun Fables, and Darling Freakhead, and used to be a member of Cha ...

, American musician *

Nils Gründer Nils Jan Gründer (born 23 May 1997) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2022. Early life Gründer was born in Nuremberg. Political career In the 2021 Germ ...

(born 1997), German politician *

Nils Hald Nils Mauritz Hald (October 12, 1897 – July 14, 1963) was a Norwegian actor. Hald was born in Kristiansand, Norway, the son of the bookbinder Johan Christian Thor Hald (1865–1902) and Karen Marie Gundersen (1864–1944). He was married to t ...

(1897–1963), Norwegian actor * Nils Haßfurther (born 1999), German basketball player * Nils-Göran Holmqvist (born 1943), Swedish politician *

Nils Kreicbergs Nils Kreicbergs (born 23 May 1996) is a Latvian handball player for Riihimäki Cocks Riihimäki Cocks ( fi, Riihimäen Cocks) is a Finnish handball club from Riihimäki. The club is playing in the Finnish Handball League (SM-liiga), and play ...

(born 1996), Latvian handball player *

Nils Liedholm Nils Erik Liedholm (; 8 October 1922 – 5 November 2007) was a Swedish football midfielder and coach. ''Il Barone'' (The Baron), as he is affectionately known in Italy, was renowned for being part of the Swedish "Gre-No-Li" trio of strikers al ...

(1922–2007), Swedish footballer and coach *

Nils Lofgren Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a membe ...

(born 1951), American musician *

Nils Lorens Sjöberg Nils Lorena Sjöberg. Nils Lorens Sjöberg (4 December 1754 in Jönköping – 13 March 1822 in Stockholm) was a Swedish officer and poet. He was the first holder of seat 18 at the Swedish Academy, from 1787 to 1822. Sjöberg was born in J� ...

(1754-1822), Swedish officer and poet *

Nils Mittmann Nils Mittmann (born 10 April 1979) is a German professional basketball player. Career Mittmann played 14 seasons in the German Basketball Bundesliga for the clubs New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig, TSK Würzburg, EnBW Ludwigsburg, and Walter Tig ...

(born 1979), German basketball player *

Nils Muižnieks Nils Muižnieks (born 31 January 1964 in the United States) is a Latvian-American human rights activist and political scientist. He had served as the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights between 2012 and 2018, succeeding Thomas Ham ...

(born 1964), Latvian-American political scientist *

Nils Ohlin Nils Ohlin (1895–1958) was a Swedish stage and film actor.Gustafsson p.113 Primarily acting in the theatre, he also appeared in a variety of films from the silent era to the 1950s as a character actor. Selected filmography * '' De landsflyktige ...

(1895–1958), Swedish actor *

Nils Olav Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III is a king penguin who resides in Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland. He is the mascot and colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King's Guard. The name 'Nils Olav' and associated ranks have been passed down through three king pengu ...

, a penguin in Edinburgh Zoo who is the mascot of the Norwegian Royal Guard *

Nils Personne Lieutenant General Nils Birger Valdemar Personne (29 June 1918 – 26 August 2013) was a Swedish Air Force officer. Personne's senior commands includes Vice Chief of the Air Staff (1961–1966), commander of the 4th Air Group (1966), chief of st ...

(1918–2013), Swedish Air Force lieutenant general *

Nils Petersen Nils Petersen (; born 6 December 1988) is a German professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for Bundesliga club SC Freiburg and the Germany national football team, Germany national team. ...

(born 1988), German footballer *

Nils Sējējs Nils Sējējs (born 15 March 2001) is a Latvian professional ice hockey winger who is currently playing with HC La Chaux-de-Fonds of the Swiss League (SL) as a prospect to Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL). Sējējs played his j ...

(born 2001), Latvian ice hockey player * Nils Sjöberg (born 1925), Swedish gymnast *

Nils-Erik Söderqvist Nils-Erik Söderqvist (born 1948) is a Swedish politician and former member of the Riksdag, the national legislature. A member of the Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many politi ...

(born 1948), Swedish politician *

Nils Trygg Nils Trygg (1914–1951) was one of the recognized masters of twentieth century woodcarving, most famous for the Scandinavian flat-plane style of woodcarving. Nils Trygg was born in Småland, Sweden. He was one of three sons of Carl Johan Trygg a ...

(1914–1951), Swedish woodcarver *

Nils Lahr Nils Lahr (born August 1973) is an American entrepreneur, inventor and computer scientist known for his work in the streaming media industry. He founded Synergy Sports Technology and several other companies. He has also been a senior developer a ...

(born 1973), American entrepreneur *

Nils Ušakovs Nils Ušakovs (russian: Нил Валерьевич Ушаков, ''Nil Valeryevich Ushakov'') (born 8 June 1976) is a Latvian Russian politician, former mayor of Riga and former journalist. He has been the board chairman of the left-wing party ...

(born 1976), Latvian journalist and politician, Mayor of Riga

Fictional characters with the given name

Nils (Fire Emblem) ''Fire Emblem'', also officially known as ''Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade'', is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance handheld video game console. It is the seventh in ...

, the fictional bard in the Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken video game *Nils Holgersson, the main character of ''

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils ''The Wonderful Adventures of Nils'' ( sv, Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige, literally ''Nils Holgersson's wonderful journey across Sweden'') is a work of fiction by the Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman to receive th ...

'', a novel by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf *Nils, a character in Double Fines video game ''

Psychonauts ''Psychonauts'' is a 2005 platform video game developed by Double Fine Productions. The game was initially published by Majesco Entertainment and THQ for Microsoft Windows, Xbox and PlayStation 2. In 2011, Double Fine acquired the rights for t ...

'' *Nils Helstrom, a character in the 1933 film ''

The Son of Kong ''The Son of Kong'' (also known and publicized simply as ''Son of Kong'') is a 1933 American Pre-Code adventure monster film produced by RKO Pictures. Directed by Ernest Schoedsack and featuring special effects by Willis O'Brien and Buzz Gibson, ...

'' *Nils Hellstrom, the central character of the 1971 film ''

The Hellstrom Chronicle ''The Hellstrom Chronicle'' is an American film released in 1971 which combines elements of documentary, science fiction, horror and apocalyptic prophecy to present a gripping satirical depiction of the struggle for survival between humans and i ...

'' *Nils Hellstrom, the central character of the 1973 book ''

Hellstrom's Hive ''Hellstrom's Hive'' is a 1973 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. It is about a secret group of humans who model their lives upon social insects and the unsettling events that unfold after they are discovered by a deep undercover agency of ...

'' by Frank Herbert, inspired by the 1971 film *Nils Krogstad, a central character of the 1879 play ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having bee ...

'' by Henrik Ibsen *Nils Jesper, Joan Ferguson's henchman on Wentworth *NILS Statue, a structure in Nintendo's video game ''

Splatoon 2 is a 2017 third-person shooter game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It was released on July 21, 2017, and is a direct sequel to ''Splatoon'', which includes a new story-driven single-player mode and various online ...

'' {{given name, nocat Latvian masculine given names Scandinavian masculine given names Norwegian masculine given names Swedish masculine given names