# Klaus

Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas.

## Notable persons whose family name is Klaus

* Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American baseball player
* Chris Klaus (born 1973), American entrepreneur
* Frank Klaus (1887–1948), German-American boxer, 1913 Middleweight Champion
* Fred Klaus (born 1967), German footballer
* Josef Klaus (1910–2001), Chancellor of Austria 1966–1970
* Karl Ernst Claus (1796–1864), Russian chemist
* Václav Klaus (born 1941), Czech politician, former President of the Czech Republic
* Walter K. Klaus (1912–2012), American politician and farmer

## Notable persons whose given name is Klaus

* Brother Klaus, Swiss patron saint
* Klaus Augenthaler (born 1957), German football player and manager
* Klaus Badelt (born 1967), German composer
* Klaus Barbie (1913–1991), German SS-Hauptsturmführer and Holocaust Perpetrator
* Klaus Bargsten (1911–2000), German captain and sole survivor of the sunken U-boat U-521 in World War II
* Klaus Berntsen (1844–1927), Danish politician
* Klaus Dede (1935–2018), German writer
* Klaus Doldinger (born 1936), German musician
* Klaus Fischer (born 1949), German footballer
* Klaus Flouride (born 1949), bassist of the Dead Kennedys
* Klaus Fuchs (1911–1988), German theoretical physicist and atomic spy
* Klaus Gerhart (born 1965), outdoorsman and photographer
* Klaus Iohannis (born 1959), Romanian politician
* Klaus Isekenmeier (born 1975), German decathlete
* Klaus Kinkel (1936–2019), German politician
* Klaus Kinski (1926–1991), German actor
* Klaus Köchl (born 1961), Austrian politician
* Klaus Lage (born 1950), German musician
* Klaus Lanzarini (born 1977), Italian freestyle swimmer
* Klaus Laser (1942–2020), German actor
* Klaus Löwitsch (1936–2002), German actor
* Klaus Mäkelä, (born 1996) Finnish conductor and cellist
* Klaus Meine (born 1948), lead singer of German hard rock band Scorpions
* Klaus Mertens (born 1949), German singer
* Klaus Nomi (1944–1983), German entertainer
* Klaus Ofczarek (1939–2020), Austrian opera singer and actor
* Klaus Perwas (born 1971), German basketball coach and former player
* Klaus Rogge (born 1979), German rower
* Klaus Schilling (1871–1946), German experimenter in Nazi human concentration camp experiments executed for war crimes
* Klaus Schulten, computational biophysicist
* Klaus Schulze (1947-2022), German electronic music composer and musician
* Klaus Schwab (born 1938), German professor who founded the World Economic Forum
* Klaus Tennstedt (1926–1998), German conductor
* Klaus Voormann (born 1938), artist, musician, and record producer who was associated with the early days of The Beatles
* Klaus Wowereit (born 1953), German politician

### Nickname

* Klaus Maria Brandauer (born 1943), theatrical name of Klaus Georg Steng, Austrian actor

## Characters

* Klaus from Beyblade: Metal Masters
* Klaus from Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2
* Klaus from Mother 3
* Klaus Baudelaire from A Series of Unfortunate Events
* Klaus Daimler from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
* Klaus Hargreeves from The Umbrella Academy
* Klaus Heisler from American Dad!
* Klaus Mikaelson from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals
* Klaus von Wolfstadt from Maiden Rose
* Baron Klaus Wulfenbach from Girl Genius
* Klaus from Klaus
* Klaus from Animal Crossing: New Horizons
* Klaus, the titular character from Forklift Driver Klaus – The First Day on the Job