Nikolaos

Nikolaos joins nike, victory, to laos, the people, and gives the Greek-speaking world its word for a public triumph won on behalf of the many. The fourth-century bishop of Myra who bore it gave away his inheritance in secret and became, by slow accretion of legend, Saint Nicholas, then Sinterklaas, then Santa Claus. In modern Greece it remains among the most common masculine names, feasted on December sixth and usually shortened to Nikos. Four clean syllables, nee-KO-lah-os, with the bright consonants of a victory cry. It suits boys born into large, generous families — loud at table, fierce at the sea.