Boy · Ancient Greek
Nicholas
Say it: NIK-uh-lus
Meaning
Greek Nikolaos, 'victory of the people' (nikē 'victory' and laos 'people').
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
One of the most popular saints' names of medieval Europe after his relics reached Bari in 1087.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1990s
In the United States
- 912,162 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1995, about 1 in 65 boys
- 4,024 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- Ancient Greece800 BC to 146 BC
- The Early Middle Ages400 to 800
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
Early ChristianGreekEnglishAmericanFrenchSpanishItalianPortugueseGermanPolishRussianHungarianDutchAncient Greek
The family of the name
Other spellings: Nicolas, Nichol, Colin, Nickolas
| French | Nicolas |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Nicolás |
| Italian | Nicola |
| Portuguese | Nicolau |
| German | Nikolaus |
| Polish | Mikołaj |
| Russian | Nikolay |
| Hungarian | Miklós |
Famous bearers
- Nicholas of Myra, 4th-century bishop and origin of Santa Claus
- Nicolaus Copernicus, astronomer
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- Calendars of saints and name days
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- Royal and noble genealogies
- English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.