Where does “Nikolai” come from?

Nikolai (Finnish) comes from Russian Никола́й, from Ancient Greek Νικόλαος, from Ancient Greek λᾱός, from Proto-Hellenic lāwós, from Proto-Indo-European leh₂wos, from Proto-Indo-European leh₂- — to bark, howl; to be concealed.

Ancestry of “Nikolai”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1RussianНикола́йNovember (N in the ICAO spelling alphabet)
2Ancient GreekΝικόλαοςNicolas
3Ancient Greekλᾱόςpeople; men; the people
4Proto-Helleniclāwóspeople, crowd
5Proto-Indo-Europeanleh₂wospeople
6Proto-Indo-Europeanleh₂-to bark, howl; to be concealed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leh₂-Every word from Proto-Indo-European leh₂wosEvery word from Proto-Hellenic lāwós