origins
Recorded as Nicholls, Nichols, Nickols, Nickolls, Nicolls, Niccols, Nicholes, Nickoles and Nickels, describing a number of different families with respectively different origins. Such include:
British surname with Ancient Greek origins as a patronymic from the medieval given name Nicholas, itself from the Greek "Nikolaos".
Both an American and Dutch patronymic from Nichol.
An Americanized Jewish surname of any like-sounding Jewish names.
A Welsh surname deriving from a series of ancient nobilities and clans that spanned the territory of the United Kingdom and Ireland, deriving from Nicholl and the like, descendants of John ap Nichol, son of Nicholer de Campion who was the Bishop of Llandaff in the late 13th century. This families descend through Nicholder from other notable clans such as the D'Aubigny, the Family of Saint-Sauveur, and ultimately the Norse king Eystein Glumra.