Mikołaj — Name Day, Meaning & Origin

Male Polish given name · 3644 births in 2024 (rank 10)

An old, warm Polish male name meaning "victory of the people", tied to Saint Nicholas.

Pronunciation

/mi.ˈkɔ.waj/ · mee-KAW-wwhy

Meaning

Mikołaj derives from the Greek name Nikolaos, made up of elements meaning "victory" and "people". Together it reads as "victorious through the people" or "victory of the people".

Origin & history

The name reached Poland with Christianity through the cult of Saint Nicholas of Myra, a fourth-century bishop famous for his generosity. It is from him that the Polish tradition of "mikołajki" and the gift-giving to children on December 6th descends. Mikołaj is among the oldest and most durable names in the Polish stock, in continuous use since the Middle Ages.

Etymology

Composed of the Greek elements níkē — "victory" and laós — "people, nation". It belongs to the same family as the international forms Nicholas and Nikolaus.

Declension (Polish cases)

Nominative	Mikołaj
Genitive	Mikołaja
Dative	Mikołajowi
Accusative	Mikołaja
Instrumental	Mikołajem
Locative	Mikołaju
Vocative	Mikołaju

Name day (imieniny)

In Poland, Mikołaj celebrates its name day on 6 December, 9 May.

Diminutives

Mikołajek, Miki, Mik, Kola, Niko.

Forms in other languages

Equivalents in other languages include Nicholas (English), Nikolaus (German), Nicolas (French), Nicola and Niccolò (Italian), Nikolai (Russian) and Mykola (Ukrainian).

Notable people named Mikołaj

Mikołaj z Miry — Fourth-century bishop and saint famed for charity, the prototype of Santa Claus.

Mikołaj Kopernik — Astronomer who formulated the heliocentric model of the Solar System.

Mikołaj Rej — Renaissance writer, one of the fathers of Polish-language literature.

Popularity

Mikołaj has for years remained among the most frequently given boys' names in Poland.