Nikola (Cyrillic: Никола) is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek Nikolaos (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia), while in West Slavic countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia) it is primarily found as a feminine given name. There is a wide variety of male diminutives of the name, examples including: Niko, Nikolica, Nidžo, Nikolče, Nikša, Nikica, Nikulitsa, Nino, Kole, Kolja, Kolyo, and Kolyu.
The spelling with a K, Nikola, usually indicates Slavic origin, while Nicola usually indicates Italian origin.
Contents
Statistics
Serbia: male name. 5th most popular in 2011, 1st in 2001, 1st in 1991, 5th in 1981, 9th pre-1940.
Croatia: male name. 32,304 (2011), 26,986 (2021)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: male name.
Bulgaria: male name.
North Macedonia: male name.
Czech Republic: 22,567 females and 740 males (2002).
Poland: female name.
Slovakia: female name.
Slovenia: male name. 2003 males and female name (form of name).
People with the name
Arts
Nikola Avramov, Bulgarian painter
Nikola Hajdin, President of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Nikola Đuričko, Serbian actor
Nikola Kastner (born 1983), German actress
Nikola Kojo, Serbian actor
Nikola Martinovski, Macedonian painter
Nikola Nešković, Serbian painter
Nikola Vaptsarov, Bulgarian poet
Music
Nikola Mijailović (singer), Serbian opera singer
Nikola Resanovic, Serbian-American composer
Nikola Šarčević, Swedish thrash rock musician
Nikola Kołodziejczyk, Polish jazz pianist, composer and arranger
Nikola Petrović, Serbian metal bassist
Politics
Vlgdrag or monk Nikola (d. 1327), Serbian nobleman
Nikola Altomanović (fl. 1371–73), Serbian prince
Nikola Skobaljić (fl. 1454), Serbian general
Nikola Frankopan, Croatian ban
Nikola IV Zrinski, Croatian-Hungarian ban and hero of Siege of Szigetvár
Nicholas I of Montenegro, King of Montenegro
Prince Nikola of Yugoslavia (1928–1954), Serbian prince
Nikola, Crown Prince of Montenegro (born 1944), Montenegrin prince
Nikola Bokan (born 1999), Serbian politician
Nikola Gruevski, Macedonian Prime minister
Nikola Jorgic, Bosnian Serb soldier
Nikola Karev, Bulgarian revolutionary
Nikola Kavaja, Serbian anti-communists
Nikola Kljusev, Macedonian politician
Nikola Ljubičić, Serbian politician
Nikola Mandić, Croatian politician
Nikola Milošević (politician), Serbian intellectual
Nikola Mushanov, Bulgarian politician
Nikola Pašić, Serbian politician and diplomat
Science
Nikola Moravčević, Serbian academic
Nikola Obreshkov, Bulgarian mathematician
Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American inventor and mechanical engineer
Nikola Moushmov, Bulgarian historian
Sports
Nikola Brejchová, Czech athlete
Nikola Dragović, Serbian basketball player
Nikola Grbić, Serbian volleyball player
Nikola Jakšić, Serbian water polo player, Olympic champion
Nikola Jerkan, Croatian footballer
Nikola Jokić, Serbian basketball player
Nikola Jovanović, Montenegrin footballer
Nikola Jović, Serbian basketball player
Nikola Jovović, Serbian volleyball player
Nikola Jurčević, Croatian footballer
Nikola Kalinić, Serbian basketball player
Nikola Karabatić, French team handball player
Nikola Katić, Croatian football player
Nikola Kotkov, Bulgarian footballer
Nikola Kovachev, Bulgarian footballer
Nikola Kovačević (volleyball), Serbian volleyball player
Niko Kranjčar, Croatian footballer
Nikola Kuljača, Serbian waterpolo goalkeeper
Nikola Kusturica (born 2009), Serbian basketball player
Nikola Lazetić, Serbian footballer
Other
Nikola Modruški, Croatian catholic priest
Nikola Radosavljević, Serbian mass murderer
Nicholas Nikola Ribic, Serbian-Canadian convicted for hostage-taking
List Nikola Stojanović (disambiguation), name shared by several individuals
Nikola Janković, several people
Fictional characters
Doctor Nikola, a supervillain in works of Guy Boothby