Nicknames for Nicholas
37 ideas for Nicholas — the short forms people actually use, plus cute, funny and gamer versions. Copy any of them in one click.
- Nick the near-universal short form
- Nicky the affectionate form
- Nico the Italian and Greek short form
- Cole the back clip, unisex and modern
- Nik the k spelling
- Nicky-Boy the affectionate compound
- Nikolai the Russian form
- Kolya the Russian affectionate form
- Nikolaos the Greek original
- Niccolò the Italian form
- Nicolas the French form
- Nikolaus the German form
- Klaas the Dutch short form
- Nikola the Serbian and Croatian form
- Mikulas the Czech and Slovak form
- Miklós the Hungarian form
- Nikos the Greek everyday form
- Claus the German short form, and the joke
- Colin the medieval pet form, now its own name
- N initial only, in group chats
- Saint Nick the joke every Nicholas has heard
- Old Nick the other, less flattering one
- Nicks the friend version
- Big Nick the team-sport version
- Nicky-Bear the family affectionate pattern
- Nicy Nicholas with the ending people add when they like you.
- Nicie Nicholas with the ending people add when they like you.
- Claas A short form people genuinely use for Nicholas.
- Ni-ni The opening sound of Nicholas, doubled.
- Neon Nicholas Shares the "N" sound with Nicholas.
- Noble Nicholas Shares the "N" sound with Nicholas.
- Claes A short form people genuinely use for Nicholas.
- Nic A short form people genuinely use for Nicholas.
- Nickie A short form people genuinely use for Nicholas.
- Niccolo The Italian form of Nicholas.
- Nicu Nicholas with the ending people add when they like you.
- Nimble Nicholas Shares the "N" sound with Nicholas.
About the name Nicholas.
Victory of the people is the Greek reading, from nike and laos, and the fourth-century bishop of Myra who wore it had a habit of giving money away in secret. Dutch settlers brought him to New Amsterdam as Sinterklaas, English speakers reshaped that into Santa Claus, and a Turkish bishop became a man in a red suit. Russia's imperial house used the name twice and ended badly with it in 1918. American parents arrived late: barely present in the 1950s, climbing steeply through the 1980s to a top ten position by the mid 1990s, then dropping about as fast. That sharp rise and equally sharp fall makes it a precise dating tool. Meet one and he was probably born between 1985 and 2000.
Slightly grand on paper and completely ordinary in speech, thanks to a short form that arrives immediately. The three syllables have an aristocratic tilt inherited from tsars and popes, but nothing survives the contraction to a single blunt syllable. Nico, borrowed from Italian and Spanish usage, softens it considerably.
Most popular around 1990. Based on US birth records.
- Origin
- Greek
- Meaning
- victory of the people
- Syllables
- Nich·o·las
- Used as
- a boys’ name
Nicholas around the world.
These are the real forms Nicholas takes in other languages, which often make excellent nicknames in their own right.
-
Nikolai
Russian
-
Nikolaos
Greek
-
Niccolo
Italian
-
Nicolas
French
-
Nikolaus
German
-
Klaas
Dutch
Famous people called Nicholas.
-
Nicholas II
last tsar of Russia
-
Nicholas Sparks
novelist behind The Notebook
-
Nicholas Hoult
English actor, X-Men films
Questions about the name Nicholas
Nick, Nico or Cole? +
Nick is the standard and has been for centuries. Nico came in through Italian and Spanish speakers and now reads as a distinct choice rather than a shortening. Cole, lifted from the last syllable, is used by a small number of bearers and sounds unrelated.
How did this name become Santa Claus? +
The bishop of Myra was known for anonymous gift-giving. Dutch tradition kept him as Sinterklaas, a contraction of Sint Nikolaas, and Dutch settlers carried the figure to North America, where English speakers reshaped the sound into Santa Claus over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
When were most Nicholases born? +
Between roughly 1985 and 2000. The name barely registered before 1970, spiked into the American top ten during the 1990s, and has collapsed since, falling out of the top hundred. Few names in this group have such a narrow generational window.
Nicholas, Nicolas or Nickolas? +
The h-and-single-l spelling is by far the most common in English. Nicolas without the h is the standard French form and appears in America too. Nickolas is a phonetic respelling that peaked in the 1990s and looks distinctly of that moment.