(“nicholas” or nikolas or nicolas or nickolas is a male given name, derived from the greek name nικόλαος (nikolaos), a compound of νίκη nikē ‘victory’ and λαός; laos ‘people’, that is, “victory of the people”)
(the name became popular through ‘saint nicholas’, bishop of myra in lycia, the inspiration for “santa claus”)
(the customary english version of spelling “nicholas”, using an “h”, first came into use in the 12th century and has been firmly established since the reformation, though “nicolas” is occasionally used)
(in the united states, ‘nicholas’ – and its variations – was the 17th most popular male name given to babies in 2006)
(roughly 0.7151% of the baby boys born that year, or 15,414, were given that name)
(it is decreasing in popularity, from a high in 1997, when 27,248 males in the united states were given the name ‘nicholas’)
(that year was the most popular year for “nicholas” since 1880, when U.S. records were kept for given names)
(rhe eastern orthodox church, the roman catholic church, and the anglican churches celebrate saint nicholas every year on december 6, which is the name day for “nicholas”)
(in greece, the name and its derivatives are especially popular in maritime regions, as saint nicholas is considered the protector saint of ‘seafarers’)