My name is Niklas and like me today, it comes with a story.
One of the most popular Niklas’s on the globe is Niklas Zennström, the billionaire founder of Skype. Zennström is Swedish and lo and behold, Niklas is one of the most popular male names there. During the 80s, it was even in the top 10.
The name was first recorded as a given name there in 1593, and given it’s very popular in Finland and the other Scandinavian countries as well, you might think that’s where it originated from.
Nope. Sorry, no credit for the guys with the Northern lights. Let’s move a bit further south and land in…
Germany. Ahh, ze land of beer and words longer than most sentences in other languages.
Besides yours truly *ahem*, another sorta-famous Niklas arises. Niklas Jansen is the co-founder of Blinkist, one of my favorite apps. Seems like his and my parents were trendsetters, because a few years after they made the call, say 1995, the name really caught on and was the #1 name for newborn boys in 2001.
We’re getting closer: The 6th of December is St. Nicholas Day in Germany and many other Christian countries. It’s not a national holiday, but comes with lots of traditions to celebrate the life of a dude named Nikolaus von Myra, who was a bishop in the 3rd century AD in a part of the Roman empire that later became Turkey.
When I was a kid, we always had to put out a boot in front of our room door the night before St. Nicholas Day and had we behaved well, we’d get sweets and fruits and nuts (mostly walnuts and oranges). He was the bringer of gifts.
In schools and kindergarten, St. Nicholas often showed up too, along with his loyal servant “Knecht Ruprecht,” a far less shiny figure.
The two would travel around, armed with a golden book and a black book, in which the good and bad children were noted. Good kids would get sweets, bad kids “the stick” – which obviously never happened.
At least not in Germany, the Austrians took it one step further and turned Knecht Ruprecht into “Krampus,” who, well…
I better let Christoph Waltz explain what Krampus did:
Anyhow, so Germany is pretty close, but to find the real meaning, we have to go a bit further south still and end up in…
Greece. A beautiful place full of sunshine, sea salt, olive oil and no money.
Here we find the true origin of St. Nicholas’s and thus, my name: Nikolaos, spelled Νικόλαος in Greek is a name pieced together of Nίkē and Láos, which mean “victory” and “people.”
Nίkē + Láos = Nikolaos → Victory + People = Victory of the People.
I hope that’s true. Not just the origin. But the meaning.
To recap:
- My name is Niklas.
- I’m a potential billionaire.
- I should get along just fine in Sweden.
- I’m a trendsetter.
- I’m a bringer of gifts.
…and I’ll hopefully bring the ultimate gift: a victory of the people.
All joking aside, that last one is exactly what I’m doing with my articles. I hope every time I sit down to write, it helps you win.
Then again, on some days, I’m just what Urban Dictionary makes me out to be:
Niklas:
One chill dude. Whenever I see him I’m always ready to high-five, because Niklas is one cool guy. If you see a Niklas, a high-five is mandatory because he’s super awesome.
