Etymology

From DutchCategory:English terms borrowed from Dutch#CLAUSCategory:English terms derived from Dutch#CLAUS and GermanCategory:English terms borrowed from German#CLAUSCategory:English terms derived from German#CLAUS Claus, a contraction of Nicolaus (“Nicholas”). The spelling Klaus is from more modern German Klaus and other Germanic languages.

Proper noun

Claus (plural Clauses)Category:English lemmas#CLAUSCategory:English proper nouns#CLAUSCategory:English countable nouns#CLAUSCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CLAUSCategory:Pages with entries#CLAUSCategory:Pages with 3 entries#CLAUS

1. A male given name from Dutch or from German [in turn from Ancient Greek]Category:English given names#CLAUSCategory:English male given names#CLAUSCategory:English male given names from Dutch#CLAUSCategory:English male given names from German#CLAUSCategory:English male given names from Ancient Greek#CLAUS.

   Alternative form: Klaus

2. Ellipsis of Santa ClausCategory:English ellipses#CLAUS.
   • 1941 December 7, Leonard Allen, “Stand-ins for St. Nick”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 December 2025:

     More exacting standards for Claus have been set up each year. It was to meet these standards that Mr. Howard—farmer, toy manufacturer, reviver of county fairs and connoisseur of Santa Clauses—set up his school.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 1971 December 22, Dale T. Craig, “True Story of Clausmas”, in Daily Chronicle, 71st year, number 296, DeKalb, Ill., →OCLC, page 10, column 5:

     Wouldn’t it be great if we taught our children about Christ instead of Claus: […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 1992 December 11, Bob Pool, “Touch of Claus : Santa Visits Every Child in Lawndale as He Has Done for Nearly 30 Years”, in Los Angeles Times‎, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 December 2025:

     For nearly 30 years, Santa has traveled past every house in town.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 2020 December 21, Faith E. Pinho, “Santa Claus got run over by a power line in Sacramento”, in Los Angeles Times‎, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 December 2020:

     The cause of Claus’ incident — perhaps morning fog, wind or faulty directions to the North Pole — remains unclear.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

3. Fictitious surname of Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.
   • 1951, Edna M. Cahill, editor, The Jumbo Christmas Book, page 132:

     […] bringing you a merry Christmas program right from the North Pole where the Claus family holds court […] Santa Claus in person, Mrs. Claus, and Little Claus.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 2014, E[lizabeth] D[awson] Baker, The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, →ISBN:

     As Cory and Suzy hurried down the steps to greet the Clauses, the elves were rolling up the legs of their pants and running down to the water’s edge. Santa and Mrs. Claus laughed when they saw them and were still chuckling as they started toward the house.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 2017, Philip Morency, On the Aisle, Volume 3: Film Reviews by Philip Morency, Pittsburgh, Pa.: RoseDog Books, →ISBN, page 18:

     Arthur lives at the North Pole. His dad is Santa Claus. His granddad used to be Santa Claus before his dad became Santa Claus. […] But along for the ride is Grandpa Claus (who’s 136 years old and he is retired).

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 2017, Caleb Zane Huett, Top Elf, Scholastic Press, →ISBN:

     Klaus came first. He was fourteen, the oldest of the Clauses’ four children. We all knew he would inherit the title of Santa one day—he always dressed in red-and-white suits to make sure we never forgot.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 2018, Lauren Rosewarne, Analyzing Christmas in Film: Santa to the Supernatural, Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 273:

     In Merry in Laws (2012), scientist Alex (Kassia Warshawski) introduces her parents to her fiancé, Peter (Lucas Bryant), and his parents, Santa Claus (George Wendt) and Mrs. Claus (Shelley Long). Alex’s father, Steven (Greg Lawson), comments derisively about the Clauses: “These people are light years away from who we are,” implying, seemingly, that he considers the Clauses as intellectually (if not also psychologically) inferior.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 2019, Julie Christianson, Alayna Denison, Mrs. Claus Goes Country, Xlibris, →ISBN:

     The Clauses and the elves sit down to dine on a Christmas breakfast tasting so yummy and right that Santa stops between bites and praises his wife: “This is delicious! You must have been cooking all night!”

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 2020, William McInnes, Christmas Tales, Hachette, →ISBN:

     Branson was Branson, Missouri, where you could find the world’s biggest Santa Claus convention with over seven hundred professional Santas, Mrs Clauses and helpers hanging out together for a five-day convention. ‘A Santa convention?’ ‘Oh yes,’ said Mrs Claus and Mr Claus echoed his agreement.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 2022, Liz Ireland, Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves, Kensington Books, →ISBN:

     The large family room on the first floor was where the Claus family spent afternoons when they were in the castle, and today it was the room where my mother-in-law was holding court for a lot of our family, both close and distant.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

4. A surname from Dutch or from German [in turn from Ancient Greek]Category:English surnames#CLAUSCategory:English surnames from Dutch#CLAUSCategory:English surnames from German#CLAUSCategory:English surnames from Ancient Greek#CLAUS.
   • 1990 July 1, Suzanne Ruta, “The Artist Is a Pest”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 May 2015:

     The best fiction about World War II has come from the home front, from those who were children in 1939, not quite innocent bystanders, like Gunter Grass and Christa Wolf and now Hugo Claus, the leading writer of the Netherlands and Flemish-speaking Belgium. […] Mr. Claus's wonderful novel is a chronicle of war in a corner of one small country and a painstaking portrait of the artist as an obnoxious young man.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 1991 December 26, “Dallas Man Finds Christmas Spirit Has His Name”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 May 2015:

     Life has grown easier for Santa Michael Claus, a 44-year-old technician with the Southwestern Bell Corporation in Dallas. In his youth, he shied away from his name, red suits, beards and children carrying wish lists. That has all changed. "I enjoy it -- it's fun to be a little bit of a name this time of year," said Mr. Claus, who explains to children that he is not the real Santa, just his namesake.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 2004 June 11, Katelyn Hayes, “Six new sharks find a home at Jenkinson’s Aquarium”, in The Ocean Star, volume 4, number 7, Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., page 6, column 3:

     According to Cindy Claus, head aquarist at Jenkinson’s, the arrival of the 29-inch juvenile Sandtiger shark marks the completion of the aquarium’s effort to replace the animals lost last month. […] Ms. Claus said the two Nurse sharks were placed in the exhibit tank the Thursday before Memorial Day Weekend so visitors to the aquarium over the busy weekend would have something to see.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

   • 2017 December 28, Alexander Robertson, “Woman who was caught riding naked on a motorcycle, performing a sex act in front of horrified high street shoppers and punching a blind man is jailed for 13 months”, in Daily Mail‎, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 December 2017:

     Natasha Claus, 36, arrived at court four hours late and appeared before Judge Peter Ross, who jailed her immediately and imposed a criminal behaviour order which means she has been barred from the entire town of Woking, Surrey. […] He sent repeat offender Claus to jail for 13 months for a string of offences including breaching a previous suspended jail term. […] Prosecutor John Upton said: 'The police believe that Ms Claus has a habit of befriending vulnerable men and taking advantage of them.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CLAUS

References

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Claus”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 1, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 342.

Anagrams

• LUCAs, Lucas, cauls, lusca

Alternative forms

• Klaus

Proper noun

ClausCategory:Danish lemmas#CLAUSCategory:Danish proper nouns#CLAUSCategory:Danish terms spelled with C#CLAUSCategory:Danish entries with incorrect language header#CLAUSCategory:Pages with entries#CLAUSCategory:Pages with 3 entries#CLAUS

1. a male given nameCategory:Danish given names#CLAUSCategory:Danish male given names#CLAUS derived from Nikolaus

References

• Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 25 307 males with the given name Claus (compared to 11 180 named Klaus) have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

Etymology

From Nicolaus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /klaʊ̯s/Category:German 1-syllable words#CLAUSCategory:German terms with IPA pronunciation#CLAUS

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

  Category:German terms with audio pronunciation#CLAUS
• Rhymes: -aʊ̯sCategory:Rhymes:German/aʊ̯s#CLAUSCategory:Rhymes:German/aʊ̯s/1 syllable#CLAUS

Proper noun

ClausCategory:German lemmas#CLAUSCategory:German proper nouns#CLAUSCategory:German entries with incorrect language header#CLAUSCategory:Pages with entries#CLAUSCategory:Pages with 3 entries#CLAUS

1. a male given name, a less common variant of KlausCategory:German given names#CLAUSCategory:German male given names#CLAUS