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
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Russian | Никола́й | — |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | Νικόλαος | Nicolas |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | λᾱός | people; men; the people |
| 4 | Proto-Hellenic | lāwós | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | leh₂wos | people |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | leh₂- | to bark, howl; to be concealed |