Meaning & Origin
Nels is a boy's baby name of Scandinavian origin, the Danish and Swedish short form of Niels or Nils, themselves forms of Nicholas, from the Greek Nikolaos, composed of nike (victory) and laos (people), meaning 'victory of the people.'
With nearly 3,800 recorded births, Nels has a clean, minimal Scandinavian character — a name that arrives complete in four letters. It carries the same warm heritage as Lars, Sven, and Erik in the tradition of short Nordic names with centuries of use. The name feels equally at home in a Minnesota farmhouse or a Copenhagen apartment.