Bishop of Myra, in today's Turkey, remembered for giving gifts in secret. The stories about him grew, by way of the Dutch Sinterklaas, into Santa Claus, 圣诞老人.
His best-known legend: he secretly tossed purses of gold through a poor man's window so the man could pay dowries for his three daughters. That is why paintings show him holding three gold balls or purses.
memory
圣 (saint) + 尼古拉斯 (Ní-gǔ-lā-sī ≈ Nicholas). The 圣 prefix is the Chinese pattern for canonized Christian saints and place names derived from them.
