Nikolaos
Νικόλαος
Nicholas, in English
The wonderworker of Myra — the bishop whose secret gift-giving gave rise to Santa Claus.
Origin
The story of Nikolaos
The Church keeps 6 December for Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra — the bishop whose legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the folklore of Santa Claus, by way of the Dutch Sinterklaas.
The name is pure Greek and plainly hopeful: Νικόλαος, from νίκη (níkē, “victory”) and λαός (laós, “people”) — “the victory of the people.”
“The victory of the people.”
onomasti · NikolaosKey facts
Nikolaos at a glance
This name keeps more than one day. At least one of them is a movable feast — its date is set relative to Pascha (Orthodox Easter), which itself shifts each year, so that day changes from year to year. The remaining day (or days) are fixed calendar dates and do not move. onomasti computes the observed date for every year.
Make it yours
Learn Nikolaos
Νικόλαος
The accent shows the stress — your voice lifts on the highlighted letter.
In English letters: Nikolaos · Nicholas · Nick
Νικόλαος
Copy it and paste it anywhere you can’t type Greek — a text, a card, a cake.
Pass it on. Tell them whose name they carry — and that this day is theirs to keep.
Χρόνια Πολλά
Send Nikolaos a Χρόνια Πολλά
A name day matters more than a birthday in a Greek family — and everyone sends Χρόνια Πολλά. Here is a card to send, and the correct Greek to write, whether or not you can type it yourself.
Warm — someone close
Formal — an elder, or with respect
The card and the wishes are in Greek — the way you would actually send them. We never machine-translate; these are fixed, correct greetings, and the name is woven in only where Greek grammar lets us do it without guessing.
Variations
Forms & nicknames of the name
One name takes many forms — the formal, the everyday, the affectionate, and the spellings that travelled abroad. Each has its own page here, and all share the same day.
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Namesakes
Notable people named Nikolaos
Iconography
Nikolaos in sacred art
DepictingSt Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra
Images from Wikimedia Commons under free licences, credited to their source. We show a depiction only where the saint on this name’s day could be identified against our own recorded feast date — never a picture found by searching for the name.
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