Origin & History

Patronymic surname meaning 'son of Nils', the Swedish form of Nicholas — from the Greek 'Nikolaos', composed of 'nikē' (victory) and 'laos' (people), meaning 'victory of the people'. Nils was a beloved name in Sweden in large part due to the cult of St Nicholas and the character Nils Holgersson, the boy protagonist of Selma Lagerlof's 1906 novel, which became a national classic. Nilsson is the fourth most common surname in Sweden and is heavily distributed across the southern provinces of Skane and Blekinge.