Nicholas
Meaning of Nicholas
Nicholas comes from the Greek Nikolaos, formed from nike, “victory,” and laos, “the people,” and is usually translated as “victory of the people.” Name dictionaries agree on this derivation. It is pronounced NIK-uh-lus in English, the same in American and British use.
The name spread across Europe with the veneration of Saint Nicholas, the fourth-century bishop of Myra, patron of children and sailors, whose legend underlies the figure of Santa Claus. It later belonged to Russian tsars, most famously Nicholas II, the last of them.
Modern bearers include Sir Nicholas Winton, the British stockbroker and humanitarian who organized the Kindertransport rescues of children from Czechoslovakia before the Second World War, and the novelist Nicholas Sparks, author of The Notebook.
In the United States, Nicholas was a steady but modest choice for much of the twentieth century. It rose steeply in the late 1970s, climbing from 6,071 babies in 1977 to 16,342 the following year, and reached its peak at fifth place in 1999. It has declined steadily since, ranking 112th in 2025, when 3,115 boys were given the name.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as NIK-uh-lus (/ˈnɪk.əl.əs/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Nicholas
| Nicholas Ray, an American film director, screenwriter, and actor, was an iconoclastic auteur who battled the studio system and profoundly influenced later filmmakers. |
| Nicholas Caradoc Hoult is an English actor who has worked in both blockbuster and indie films, earning BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Emmy nominations, and was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2012. |
| Sir Nicholas Winton was a British stockbroker and humanitarian who organized the Czech Kindertransport, rescuing 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to safety in Britain before World War II. |
| Nicholas Brendon is an American actor and writer best known for playing Xander Harris on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Kevin Lynch on Criminal Minds. |
| Nicholas Meyer is an American screenwriter, director, and author best known for the novel The Seven Per Cent Solution and for directing Time After Time, two Star Trek films, The Day After, and the HBO film Vendetta. |
| Nicholas Charles Sparks is an American novelist, screenwriter, and producer whose 23 New York Times bestsellers, including The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle, have sold over 115 million copies and inspired numerous films. |
| Nicholas Braun is an American actor best known as Greg Hirsch on the HBO series Succession, earning three Emmy nominations, with film roles in Sky High, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Zola. |
| Nicholas Lea is a Canadian actor best known for portraying Alex Krycek on The X Files and Tom Foss on Kyle XY, and he is the partner of actress Crystal Balint. |
| Nicholas Wright Gillham was an American geneticist and Duke University biology professor also known for his 2001 biography of Francis Galton. |
