The male given name Nicholas is derived from the Greek Νικόλαος, Nikolaos, a combination of the words for "victory" (nikē) and "people" (laos). The name can be understood to mean victory of the people although some say it means "power of the people". The name became popular through Saint Nicholas of Myra, the inspiration for Santa Claus. The customary English version of spelling "Nicholas", using an "h", is derived from one way of transliterating the diacritic on the 'o' of the original Greek word Νικόλαος. 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). In 2006, Nicholas was the 17th most popular male name given to babies in the USA. 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 US males were given the name Nicholas. That year was the most popular year for Nicholas since 1880, when US records began for given names.

The Greek Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Nicholas every year on the 6th December. This day is the name day for "Nicholas".

Male variations

Variations for males include :

• Albanian: Nikolla, Nikollë, Kola
• Basque: Nikola
• Bulgarian: Никола (Nikola), Николай (Nikolay)
• Croatian: Nikola, Niko, Nikša, Nikica
• Czech: Mikula, Mikoláš, Mikuláš, Nikola
• Danish: Claus, Klaus, Niels, Nikolaus, Nikolaj, Nilaus, Nis
• Dutch: Klaas, Nico, Nicolaas, Niek, Nikolaas
• English: Nic, Nick, Nickolas, Nicky, Nik, Nicolas, Nikolas, Nicholas, Nikholas
• Esperanto: Nichjo, Nikolao
• Estonian: Nigul
• Finnish: Launo, Niilo, Niklas, Niko
• French: Nicolas, Nico, Colas, Colin
• Frisian (West): Klaes
• Galician: Nicolau
• Georgian: Nikoloz
• German: Claus, Claas, Klaas, Klaus, Klas, Nickolaus, Nicolas, Nicolaus, Niklaus, Nikolaus, Niklas, Nico, Niko
• Greek: Νικόλαος (Nicolaos), Νικόλας (Nikolas), Νίκος (Nikos)
• Hungarian: Miklós, Nikola
• Irish: Nioclás
• Italian: Niccolò, Nico, Nicola, Nicolò, Nicolai
• Latvian: Nikolajs, Niks
• Lithuanian: Mikalojus
• SlavoMacedonian: Nikola, Kole, Nikolče (Pronounced Nik-col-che)
• Norwegian: Nils
• Polish: Mikołaj
• Portuguese: Nicolau
• Romanian: Neculai, Nicolae, Nicu, Nicusor, Niculae
• Russian: Коля (Kolya), Николай (Nikolai)
• Scottish: Neacel, Nichol, Nicol
• Serbian: Никола (Nikola)
• Slovak: Mikuláš, Nikola
• Slovene: Miklavž, Niko, Nikolaj
• Spanish: Nicolao, Nicolás
• Swedish: Nels, Niklas, Niclas, Nicklas, Nils, Klas, Claes
• Ukrainian: Mykolai, Mykola