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[Opinions] Nicola
What do you think of Nicola? My mom almost named me Nikola, because I was born on St Nicholas' day. I went to elementary school with a Nicola and to high school with a Nikola. I just thought of it again and I do think it's quite nice and pretty.I also wonder why it never became popular, in the USA at least. Nicole was so common, yet people never to turned to Nicola for a less common alternative. I wonder why. Any theories?Is it common where you live? Do you know anyone named Nicola or Nikola? Do they go by a nickname? And how many girls named Nicole do you know? Could you tell me whether you live in the US or another country? I just really wonder why it didn't become at least a bit more popular.Do you prefer Nicola or Nikola? Nicola, Nikola or Nicole? I kind of prefer Nikola. I think I'd call her Nicolette occasionally but I'm not a huge fan of Nicky. Do you think people would call her that?
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Nicola is much more common than Nicole, I think, here in the UK. I know several Nicolas and have never met a Nicole. I much prefer Nicola.
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I like Nicola well enough. At one time (before I knew better), I used to pronounce it ni-CO-la instead of NIC-o-la. ;-)
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Ignore. Double post,
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I like Nicola well enough. At one time (before I knew better), I used to pronounce it ni-CO-la instead of NIC-o-la. ;-)
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Nicola/Nichola was really, really popular here in Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s. I knew lots of Nicolas growing up - they were all Nick-o-lah except for one Nee-cole-ah. Nicole came into fashion in the 1990s. I know one girl Nicole "Cole". The Nicolas didn't necessary all go by Nicky but some did.Nikki and the other spellings strike me as trashy - there are a lot of porn actresses and page 3 girls called Nikki, Nici, Nicki, etc. I think some people would definitely call her Nicky.I used to like Nicolette but no any more. I prefer Nicole to Nicola.What do you think of Nico? Saw a little girl in the paper the other day called Nico, after the singer from the Velvet Underground.

This message was edited 3/31/2009, 3:50 PM

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I think Nicola is amazing on a boy (reminds me of Tesla, coolest guy ever) but I'm not fond of it on a girl. I'm not even quite sure how I'm supposed to pronounce it when it's on a girl. Nih-COLE-uh sounds strange, but nee-coh-LA sounds so masculine.I can't say why it never became popular in the US. Perhaps it wasn't heard of.I've never met a Nicola.
I know... four Nicoles, and I know several people who have Nicole as a middle name.I prefer Nicola on both questions, though as I said, I'm not fond of it on a girl.None of the Nicoles I know get called Nicky / Nikki. I don't anticipate it being a problem. I went to preschool with a Nicoletta. She was a snotty little rich girl :/

This message was edited 3/31/2009, 2:13 PM

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I know plenty of Nicole/Nikkis. I have had at least one in my class since kindergarten (yay 90s!). My brother is friends with a Nikola, but he is a boy, and he does go by his full name and not Nick.
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I'm not that keen on it and it's quite dated here (Britain). It was VERY popular in the 70s and 80s. There were four in my year at school. I don't know anyone called Nicole but it is reasonably popular for young children. Personally, I hate it.Some of the Nicolas I have known only go by Nicola others are Nicky, Nicki, Nikki or Niki. It's one of those nicknames that has a number of different spellings.I have never seen Nikola and don't like it. I've seen Nichola as an alternative spelling which I prefer.
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I've always thought that Nicola is a very British name. I don't know why really. I've never met someone named Nicola and according to Statistics Sweden there are only 160 women with the name Nicola, 115 of them have Nicola as their first name. 76 have the name Nikola (56 have it as their first name). It's obviously very rare here.
I prefer Nicola.
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I know three, and only one goes by Nikki. I don't think it's inevitable.As for why it wasn't popular in the US, I have no idea.
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Nicky's really not that common a nickname for Nicola. I know three girls called Nicola or Nichola (not including myself) and none of them ever get called Nicky, except by their parents. I only know one girl called Nicole, though my friend has a sister called Nikole. I live in England and it's relatively popular where I live but I know several Georgina's and as far as I know that's never really been popular.
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I think Nicola is kind of nice. Better than Nicole anyway. But I also like Nicola the boy's name.That's a good question as to why Nicola never became a popular alternative to the ever so popular Nicole in the US (where I live). I've met tons and tons of Nicoles my age, but I've never met a Nicola. I'd never even heard of the name until seeing it on this site.I don't think Nikki (the only way I've ever seen anyone spell it... Nicky would be a nn for Nicholas) would be an inevitable nickname. Almost all the Nicoles I've known didn't go by any nicknames.

This message was edited 3/31/2009, 8:27 AM

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I'm in the US, and I've never met a Nicola, but I've met many Nicoles. Most of them have gone by Nicky (more often than not spelled Nikki). I prefer Nicola. It's pretty and elegant.If I had to guess, I'd say Nicola never took off in the US for a couple reasons. 1- Nicky is the main nickname, and people may be burnt out on it. I know I am. 2- People are unsure how to pronounce it and each pronunciation has problems to the American ear. NIC-o-la sounds like "nickel" and ni-COH-uh sounds like "cola." I think this combination of pronunciation plus nickname issues may be why Michaela, Gabriela, and Daniela marched in as fresher alternatives to Michelle, Gabrielle, and Danielle, but Nicola hasn't gained any ground on Nicole.
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hm butI still wonder why it wasn't common in the 70s and 80s, when Nicole was at the height of its popularity. People are sick of Nikki now and I understand why there aren't many young Nicolas around, it's just a mystery to me while people never used it while Nicole was common because they weren't sick of Nikki back then. I thought people would turn to Nicola because it's less common yet still has the nn Nikki, like people nowadays turn to Madeleine because it's less common than Madison and they can still call her Maddie.Yeah, you're right about the "cola" part, it bothers me quite a bit as well. Maybe that's why I prefer Nikola.
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I think it comes down to trends at the time...When Nicole was at the height of its popularity, French names, especially those ending in -le, were really 'in' and variants ending in -a were not as popular. Nicole, Danielle, Michelle, and Gabrielle, for example, were all more considerably more popular during that period than Daniela, Michaela (any spelling), or Gabriela. I bet Nicola wasn't used as an alternate path to Nikki at that time because Nicole itself was so fashionable. The pendulum has swung in the other direction now, and the -a ending is hot while old Gallic favorites sound dated. So, Danielle is falling while Daniela/Daniella climbs, and so on. Nicola should be more popular than it is...I'm starting to think it must be the pronunciation issue.
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I don't like it because I focus on the "cola" part of the name, and it reminds me of soda. I prefer Nicole.
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My best friend in called Nicola. She gets called Nikki by some of her college friends, well, most of them, but I always call her Nicola since I've known her longer - before she started using the NN Nikki. I think it's a nice name, I say it a lot! I HATE Nicolette, it is so close to Nicorette, and I just dislike ette names. Nicola looks more natural to me than Nikola, but I like both. I quite like Nicole as well and might use it as a mn as it is more versatile than Nicola (I like a lot of -a names as first names)
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What about Nikol or Nikoleta? That´s much feminine. Nikola is very male name for me.
In the Czech Republic living 29. 677 women (and girls) named Nikola. It´s much popular.Niky, Nika, Nikolka, Letty.
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I’ve met two girls named Nicole and they were both British and in their 20s. Nikola is a male name here and I know numerous boys/men all ages named this. The younger ones are sometimes called Niki or Niko. The female form used here is Nikolina.I prefer Nicole for a girl in English and Nikolina here. Nikola is only male to me.BTW, I live in Croatia.
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I know quite a few Nicolas, actually.I'm in Canada, though. This is my mom's name, and it was quite popular in her age bracket (earlier forties.) She actually worked with another Nicola about a decade ago, but it wasn't an issue because she [my mom] pronounces it bizarrely: nih-CO-la, not NICK-a-la like most people.I view it as kind of dated. Maybe that's why people here opt more for Nicole?I don't dislike it, but I don't like it. It too much my mom's name to like it. I can't like any of my family names, I find. I think I prefer Nikola because I'm on a "k" kick lately :)As for Nicky... nah, I don't think that would really be an issue. It just takes one "Oh hey Nicky!" "Actually, it's just-Nicola." to set [most] people straight. I've gone all my life without anyone shortening my name and so has my brother (although he does have a nn that has nothing to do with his real name.) I know we've discussed this here before and other people have had the same experiences as well, so I don't think it'd be too difficult.
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I went to high school with a girl named Nicola in New Jersey in the 70's. She's the only Nicola I've ever known. She didn't have a nickname, she was called Nicola.But come to think of it, I've never known a Nicole. I know OF one, my sister's first husband's daughter by his subsequent marriage. She is called Nicky.But when I was born, Nicole just wasn't a popular name. It didn't achieve popularity until later, so it's not that surprising that I haven't known any.I prefer Nicola. I don't think that the nn Nicky is inevitable, since the Nicola I knew was never called that.I think that Nicole was way more popular because it is much more feminine sounding. Nicola sounds like the word "nickel" with an A tacked on. But I actually like Nicola more, because I tend not to like Frenchy names that sound ultra-feminine. I hate Danielle, for instance.Nicola is okay. It falls into the category for me, that most names fall into. I'm pretty neutral about it. I don't love it and I don't hate it. There are better names, and there are worse ones.
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