Claus

From Dutch and German Claus, a contraction of Nicolaus (“Nicholas”). The spelling Klaus is from more modern German Klaus and other Germanic languages.

Claus (plural Clauses)

1. A male given name from Dutch or from German [in turn from Ancient Greek].

   Alternative form: Klaus

2. 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.

   • 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.

   • 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).

   • 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.

   • 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.

   • 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!”

   • 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.

   • 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.

3. A surname from Dutch or from German [in turn from Ancient Greek].
   • 1990 July 1, Suzanne Ruta, “The Artist Is a Pest”, in The New York Times‎^[1], 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.

   • 1991 December 26, “Dallas Man Finds Christmas Spirit Has His Name”, in The New York Times‎^[2], 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.

   • 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.

   • 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^[3], 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.

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

• LUCAs, Lucas, cauls, lusca

• Klaus

Claus

1. a male given name derived from Nikolaus

• Niels and its variants
• (surnames) Clausen, Klausen

• [4] 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.

From Nicolaus.

• IPA^(key): /klaʊ̯s/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊ̯s

Claus

1. a male given name, a less common variant of Klaus