GENDER: Masculine

PRONUNCIATION: English (NI-ko-las),
French (nee-ko-LA)

ETYMOLOGY: From the Greek Nikolaos meaning victory of the people.

ORIGIN & HISTORY: Traceable to the first century church Nicholas was one of seven qualified men.

From the Greek, the name Nicholas can be traced back to at least the forth century. He was known for his generosity first for saving the daughters of a poor man from being sold into prostitution. During the persecution of the Christians, Nicholas of Myra was steadfast in his faithfulness and refused to denounce Christ. Nicholas was imprisoned and branded, but escaped the executioner. He was known for secretly giving gifts to children and spent his later years founding orphanages and protecting poor children. He was later called Saint Nicholas and that has translated into "Santa Claus."

POPULARITY: In the United States the name Nicholas has been within the top 200 list of names for boys since prior to 1900. From1970 1979 it broke into the top 100 and has steadily made its way to the top twenty most popular boy names. It has been popular in other English speaking countries, but has not ranked quite as high over the past four years in England/Wales or Scotland. It has remained highly popular in Canada and Australia.

FACTS:
The fourth century martyr Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of children, sailors, merchants, Greece and Russia.

Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6.

There have been two Russian Czars named Nicholas.

Five popes have gone by the name Nicholas.

NAMESAKES:
Tropical Storm Nicholas developed in the Atlantic from a tropical wave during the 2003 hurricane season.

Charles Dickens wrote a novel titled Nicholas Nickelby.

Nicholas Negroponte is founder of the One Laptop per Child non-profit association. He was a forerunner in computer aided design. A graduate of MIT and long time professor of that same school. Authored a book titled Being Digital published in 1995.

FAMOUS PERSONS:

Nicholas Cage: (actor) Born January 7, 1964 in Long Beach, California, USA. The son of a comparative literature professor August Coppola and nephew of famous film director/producer Frances Ford Coppola. He changed his name to Cage early in his acting career to make his own name in the industry. Attended Beverly Hills High School and left and the age of 17 to pursue an acting career. His first part in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" was cut. He later read lines for his uncle during auditions which landed him a part in "Rumble Fish"; he was first noticed as a punk rocker in "Valley Girl" Some of his most notable roles of late have been "The Rock" and "National Treasure."

Nicolai Rimski-Korsakov (composer) Russian born March 18, 1844 and died June 8, 1908. He is one of five Russian composers known as "The Five." Most noted for his orchestrations composed for opera such as "The Tale of Tsar Sultan" and folk opera's based on fairytales such as "Snowmaiden." He taught composition and orchestration at St. Petersburg Conservatory.

NAME VARIANTS: Slavic Nicholai, Nicolai, Niklos; German Nickolaus, Nikolaus; Russian & Polish Nikolai; Italian Niccolo, Nicoli, Nicolo; Greek Nikolos. There are 59 variants of the name including Claus, Cole, Nick, and Nicol.

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