Mykola
The Ukrainian form of Mikołaj, from Greek roots for "victory of the people". More than 43,000 men in Poland carry it, almost all through Ukrainian roots, though it reaches few newborns now.
Mykola Pronunciation
Mykola is pronounced mih-KO-lah (/mɨˈkɔla/).
What Mykola means
Where Mykola comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Mykola is the Ukrainian form of the name Polish speakers write as Mikołaj. The meaning both share, victory of the people, comes from two Greek roots: nikē, meaning victory, and laos, the people. Slavic speech reshaped those sounds, and Mykola is what stayed in Ukraine.
The name belongs first to a saint. Sviatyi Mykolai, the Ukrainian Saint Nicholas, brings gifts to children each December, the same figure Polish homes greet as Święty Mikołaj.
It has also carried working Ukrainian lives. Mykola Lysenko is remembered as the father of Ukrainian classical music. Mykola Leontovych wrote "Shchedryk," the choral piece the wider world sings as "Carol of the Bells." The writer known abroad as Gogol signed himself Mykola in his own tongue.
Read a Polish class register and you meet the cousin form, Mikołaj, near the top. Behind both spellings sits the same meaning: victory of the people.
How many people are named Mykola
1 in 490 men in Poland is named Mykola. 43,546 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #206 among male names.
Mykola's popularity over time
9 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #745 among newborns. It is making a comeback after a low in 2016. Still the #206 name among living men, even as it slips to #745 among newborns.
Where Mykola is most popular
Mykola is most popular in Greater Poland, 105% above the national average (11 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+81%) and Opole (+74%). It is least common in Subcarpathian and Lower Silesian, 34% and 24% below average respectively.
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Greater Poland11 boys born+105%
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Masovian16 boys born+81%
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Opole2 boys born+74%
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Lubusz2 boys born+61%
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Pomeranian5 boys born+36%
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Silesian7 boys born+23%
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Lesser Poland6 boys born+6%
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Lower Silesian3 boys born−24%
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Subcarpathian2 boys born−34%
Mykola as a middle name
Mykola is a first name for 43,546 men in Poland and a middle name for another 45, a 100/0 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 1163rd, between Man (45) and Shalom (45).
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1161
45Majkel
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1162
45Man
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116345Mykola
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1164
45Shalom
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1165
45Smith