Nicola is a Latinised version of the Greek personal name Nikolaos (Νικόλαος), derived from Nikos meaning "victory", and laos meaning "people", therefore implying the meaning "winner of the people". The English form of the same name is Nicholas. Nicola or Nikola was a frequently given male personal name among the traditional Italian nobility, and was used often in the Middle Ages.
In the UK and Germany, the male form Nicola has been used as a female name, which originally came from incorrectly presuming the name's vowel ending "a" was the female form, as has also occurred with the male given name Andrea. The female form of Nicola in Italian is Nicoletta. Other forms of the female name in other languages include Nicole or Nicolette in French, Nikolett or Nikoletta in Hungarian.
The spelling Nikola is widely used in Slavic language speaking areas, reflecting the transliteration of the Cyrillic spelling Никола.
(Text) CC BY-SA
