In order to add to the existing knowledge of aqueous solution behavior of bile salts in presence of amino acids, the micellization properties of sodium cholate (NaC) (1 to 20) mmol kg(-1), and sodium deoxycholate (NaDC) (0.5 to 10) mmol(-1) kg(-1) in 0.1 mol kg(-1) aqueous solution of glycine, leucine, methionine, and histidine have been investigated at different temperatures (293.15 to 318.15) K at intervals of T = 5 K by using conductivity and fluorescence probe studies. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) values have been determined and elucidated in terms of hydrophobicity as well as hydrophilicity of NaC and NaDC in aqueous solution of these additives. Thermodynamic parameters of micellization viz. standard Gibbs free energy (Delta(mic)G(o)), standard enthalpy (Delta H-mic(o)), and standard entropy (Delta S-mic(o)) have also been calculated to extract information regarding the nature of micellization of bile salts in aqueous solutions. The (enthalpy + entropy) compensation plots have been interpreted to the contribution of chemical part towards micellization or stability of the micelle formed. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.