Where does “ニコライ” come from?

ニコライ (Japanese) 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 “ニコライ”, step by step

ニコライ traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Russian Никола́й

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

via Danish Nikolai

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1DanishNikolai
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leh₂-Every word from Proto-Indo-European leh₂wosEvery word from Proto-Hellenic lāwós