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 Nikolaos, after Saint ...

, cognate to

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 ...

People and animals with the given name

* Nils Elias Anckers (1858–1921), Swedish naval officer * Nils Beckman (1902–1972), Swedish jurist and civil servant * Nils Bergström (born 1985), Swedish ice hockey player * Nils Björk (1898–1989), Swedish Army lieutenant general * Nils Dacke (died 1543), Swedish rebel * Nils-Joel Englund (1907–1995), Swedish cross-country skier *

Nils Ericson ''Friherre'' Nils Ericson (born Nils Ericsson; 31 January 1802 – 8 September 1870) was a Swedish mechanical engineer who built canals and railways in Sweden. His younger brother John Ericsson, who emigrated first to England and then the U ...

(1802–1870), Swedish inventor and engineer * Nils Frahm (born 1982), German pianist and producer * Nils Frykdahl, American musician * Nils Grandelius, Swedish chess grandmaster * Nils Gründer (born 1997), German politician * Nils Hald (1897–1963), Norwegian actor * Nils Haßfurther (born 1999), German basketball player * Nils-Göran Holmqvist (born 1943), Swedish politician * Nils Kreicbergs (born 1996), Latvian handball player *

Nils Liedholm Nils Erik Liedholm (; 8 October 1922 – 5 November 2007) was a Swedish association football, 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 ...

(1922–2007), Swedish footballer and coach * Nils Lofgren (born 1951), American musician * Nils Lorens Sjöberg (1754–1822), Swedish officer and poet * Nils Mittmann (born 1979), German basketball player * Nils Mohl (born 1971), German writer * Nils Muižnieks (born 1964), Latvian-American political scientist * Nils Ohlin (1895–1958), Swedish actor * Nils Olav, a penguin in Edinburgh Zoo who is the mascot of the Norwegian Royal Guard * Nils Personne (1918–2013), Swedish Air Force lieutenant general *

Nils Petersen Nils Petersen (; born 6 December 1988) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. He appeared in the 2016 Summer Olympics and remains the first and only German footbal ...

(born 1988), German footballer * Nils Sējējs (born 2001), Latvian ice hockey player * Nils-Erik Söderqvist (born 1948), Swedish politician * Nils Trygg (1914–1951), Swedish woodcarver * Nils Lahr (born 1973), American entrepreneur * Nils Ušakovs (born 1976), Latvian journalist and politician, Mayor of Riga * Nils Vilnis (born 1983), Latvian photographer and entrepreneur

Fictional characters with the given name

Nils (Fire Emblem) ''Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade'', also known simply as ''Fire Emblem'', is a 2003 tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is the seventh installment in the ''Fire Emb ...

, the fictional bard in the Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken video game *Nils Holgersson, the main character of '' The Wonderful Adventures of Nils'', a novel by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf *Nils, a character in Double Fines video game ''

Psychonauts ''Psychonauts'' is a 2005 platformer, platform game developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Majesco Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Xbox (console), Xbox and PlayStation 2. Set in a Retrofuturism, retro-futuristic version of t ...

'' *Nils Helstrom, a character in the 1933 film '' The Son of Kong'' *Nils Hellstrom, the central character of the 1971 film '' The Hellstrom Chronicle'' *Nils Hellstrom, the central character of the 1973 book '' Hellstrom's Hive'' 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 language, Danish and ; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 De ...

'' by Henrik Ibsen *Nils Jesper, Joan Ferguson's henchman on Wentworth *NILS Statue, a structure in the '' Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion'' DLC made by Nintendo. {{given name, nocat Latvian masculine given names Scandinavian masculine given names Norwegian masculine given names Masculine given names Swedish masculine given names