Shouldn't Nikolay be the main Russian form of Nicholas, with Nikolai being a variant transcription? I mean, all masculine Russian names that end in -й, are usually transcribed to a form that ends in -y... and this form ending in -y is then usually considered the main form (with forms ending in -i considered a variant transcription).Just compare these names, for example:- Aleksey (Алексей) is the main form, while Aleksei (Алексей) is a variant transcription; - Anatoliy (Анатолий) is the main form, while Anatoli (Анатолий) is a variant transcription; - Isay (Исай) is the main form, while Isai (Исай) is a variant transcription.In other words:* -ay is the main transcription of -ай * -ey is the main transcription of -ей * -iy is the main transcription of -ийThen it stands to reason that Nikolay (Николай) should be the main Russian form of Nicholas, with Nikolai (Николай) considered as a variant transcription. Also note that just because Nikolai is the transcription that occurs most often in English, doesn't necessarily mean that it's the most correct transcription. [noted -ed]
Just compare these names, for example:
- Aleksey (Алексей) is the main form, while Aleksei (Алексей) is a variant transcription;
- Anatoliy (Анатолий) is the main form, while Anatoli (Анатолий) is a variant transcription;
- Isay (Исай) is the main form, while Isai (Исай) is a variant transcription.
In other words:
* -ay is the main transcription of -ай
* -ey is the main transcription of -ей
* -iy is the main transcription of -ий
Then it stands to reason that Nikolay (Николай) should be the main Russian form of Nicholas, with Nikolai (Николай) considered as a variant transcription. Also note that just because Nikolai is the transcription that occurs most often in English, doesn't necessarily mean that it's the most correct transcription. [noted -ed]