Which St. Nicholas? Every Saint Named Nicholas

Curated and reviewed by Pastor Lyvers

Which St. Nicholas? 13 saints and blesseds named Nicholas have full entries in this encyclopedia. They are listed below with their dates, feast days and a line on who each one was, arranged century by century.

A name carries a story, and many holy men and women have carried this one. Whether you are choosing a baptismal or confirmation name, looking for the saint behind a parish or a feast, or simply trying to tell one St. Nicholas from another, we hope this page helps you find the right one, and that you will ask that saint's prayers along the way. Among the best loved are St. Nicholas of Myra, St. Nicholas of Tolentino and Blessed Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung.

4th century

  • St. Nicholas of Myra c. 270–c. 343 · Feast day December 6

    St. Nicholas was a 4th-century bishop of Myra, in present-day Turkey, remembered for secret generosity to the poor.

9th century

  • St. Nicholas I c. 800–867 · Feast day November 13

    St. Nicholas I (died 867), called Nicholas the Great, was pope from 858 to 867.

11th century

  • St. Nicholas the Pilgrim c. 1075–1094 · Feast day June 2

    St. Nicholas the Pilgrim (San Nicola Pellegrino) was a young Greek who wandered through southern Italy carrying a wooden cross and crying "Kyrie eleison" ("Lord, have mercy").

14th century

  • St. Nicholas of Tolentino c. 1245–1305 · Feast day September 10

    St. Nicholas of Tolentino (about 1245–1305) was an Augustinian friar and preacher who spent his last thirty years in the town of Tolentino, in central Italy.

  • St. Nicholas Cabasilas c. 1322–c. 1391 · Feast day June 20

    St. Nicholas Cabasilas (about 1322–1391) was a Byzantine theologian from Thessaloniki, adviser to Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos, who wrote two classics of Christian spirituality, The Life in Christ and the Commentary on…

15th century

  • St. Nicholas of Flüe 1417–1487 · Feast day March 21

    St. Nicholas of Flüe (1417–1487), known as Brother Klaus, was a Swiss farmer and father of ten who left home, with his wife's consent, to live as a hermit.

16th century

  • St. Nicholas Pieck 1534–1572 · Feast day July 9

    St. Nicholas Pieck (1534 to 1572) was the guardian of the Franciscan convent at Gorkum.

17th century

  • St. Nicholas Owen c. 1550–1606 · Feast day March 22

    St. Nicholas Owen (died 1606), called "Little John," was an English Jesuit lay brother and carpenter who spent years building "priest holes" in Catholic houses to hide priests.

  • Blessed Nicholas Postgate c. 1597–1679 · Feast day August 7

    Blessed Nicholas Postgate (about 1597–1679) was a Yorkshire priest who served the hidden Catholics of the North York Moors for nearly fifty years, often dressed as a gardener.

20th century

  • St. Nicholas of Japan 1836–1912 · Feast day February 3

    St. Nicholas of Japan (1836 to 1912), born Ivan Kasatkin in Russia, brought Orthodox Christianity to Japan.

  • St. Nicholas II of Russia 1868–1918 · Feast day July 17

    St. Nicholas II (1868–1918) was the last Tsar of Russia.

  • Blessed Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung 1895–1944 · Feast day January 12

    Blessed Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung (1895–1944) was a Thai Catholic priest and missionary who was arrested in 1941, falsely accused of spying for the French, and died of tuberculosis in Bang Khwang prison after…

  • Blessed Nicholas Charnetsky 1884–1959 · Feast day April 2

    Blessed Nicholas Charnetsky (1884–1959) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Redemptorist who became a bishop and apostolic visitor in Volhynia.

The Saint Index also holds basic records for 28 more saints and blesseds named Nicholas. Search every saint named Nicholas →

Other names saints share: Mary, Peter, Joseph and more →