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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.

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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.