Nick is the short form of Nicholas, from the Greek Nikolaos, "victory of the people", the name of the fourth-century saint who became Santa Claus. Given on its own, Nick has a friendly, no-frills quality that American parents valued most in the late 20th century. It ranked number 768 in 2000, its best year since then, and has drifted outside the top 1000 to number 1447 in 2025, while Nicholas itself remains far more common.