Nicolaas

From Namespedia - Names Meaning and Origins

Name: Nicolaas

Gender: Masculine

Location: The Nederlands

Language: Dutch

Thematic: Unknown Thematic

Meaning: Victory of the People

Comments: originally from Greek

The boy's name Nicholas \n(i)-cho-las\ is pronounced NIK-oh-lus. It is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "victorious people". Biblical: one of seven "qualified men" in the first-century Christian congregation.

Saint Nicholas (fourth century) is known as the patron saint of Greece and Russia, children, scholars, sailors, and pawnbrokers, and (via his Dutch name, Sinte Klaas) the original Santa Claus.

The male given name Nicholas is derived from the Greek Nikolaos, a combination of the words for "victory" (nike) and "people" (laos). The name became popular through Saint Nicholas of Myra, the inspiration for Father Christmas (known as Santa Claus in the USA).

The normal English version of spelling "Nicholas", using an "h", is derived from one way of transliterating the diacritic of the original Greek word Νικόλαος. From the Latin "Nicholaus," meaning peoples victory. This surname was very common in medieval times, as shown by the numerous forms of the name and numerous countries of origin. Nicolas is the most common French spelling, while Nicholas and Nichols were most common in England. It is claimed to have first come into use in the 12th century and to have been firmly established by the time of the Reformation. Nonetheless, the spelling "Nicolas" without "h" is occasionally found in English speaking countries (e.g. Nicolas Cage).

Nicholas is the 64th most common male name in the USA, comprising roughly 0.275% of the population, or 33,845 people. Five popes and two emperors of Russia have borne the name. Nicholai, Nicolai, Niklos are Slavic forms; Nickolaus, Nikolaus are German; Nikolai is Polish, Russian; Niccolo, Nicoli, Nicolo are Italian; Nikolos is Greek.