Nathaniel Name Meaning

Nathaniel is a biblical name, derived from the Hebrew name Natan’el, which means “God has given”.

Origins of the Name Nathaniel

The name Nathaniel is commonly found in the Old Testament of the Bible, and is mentioned in several passages. For example, in 1 Chronicles 4:18, it is written that “Nathaniel the son of Zophah of the tribe of Issachar was over the livestock”.

Popularity of the Name Nathaniel

Nathaniel has been a popular boy’s name for centuries, and its popularity has held steady over the years. In the United States, it was the twentieth most popular name for boys in 2019, and is even more popular overseas. In certain countries, such as France and Spain, it is one of the top ten most popular names.

Famous Nathaniels

Nathaniel has been used as a given name by many famous people throughout history. Some of the most well-known Nathaniels include American actor and director Nathaniel Hawthorne, British mathematician and philosopher Nathaniel Bacon, and the fictional character Nathaniel “Nate” Archibald from the TV series Gossip Girl.

Final Thoughts on the Name Nathaniel

From its biblical origins to its modern day popularity, Nathaniel is a timeless name with a rich history. Whether you’re looking for a classic name for your son or simply want to learn more about this popular name, we hope this article has provided you with the information you need.

Infographic of Nathaniel name meaning, which is A variant of Nathanael, Nathaniel is a Hebrew name meaning God is given.
Ask your friends & family about Nathaniel…

Nathaniel Name Popularity

How popular is the name Nathaniel? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 — 210 0.0596%
1911 — 173 0.0465%
1912 — 320 0.0635%
1913 — 300 0.0529%
1914 — 444 0.0637%
1915 — 520 0.0572%
1916 — 560 0.058%
1917 — 604 0.0604%
1918 — 638 0.0594%
1919 — 717 0.0685%
1920 — 806 0.0725%
1921 — 727 0.0635%
1922 — 769 0.069%
1923 — 696 0.0621%
1924 — 777 0.0669%
1925 — 777 0.0687%
1926 — 796 0.0724%
1927 — 749 0.0677%
1928 — 705 0.0659%
1929 — 743 0.0717%
1930 — 733 0.0702%
1931 — 628 0.0636%
1932 — 756 0.0765%
1933 — 707 0.0759%
1934 — 766 0.0792%
1935 — 721 0.0742%
1936 — 714 0.0741%
1937 — 688 0.0698%
1938 — 718 0.0701%
1939 — 751 0.0738%
1940 — 809 0.0761%
1941 — 805 0.0715%
1942 — 825 0.0653%
1943 — 816 0.0625%
1944 — 848 0.0684%
1945 — 828 0.0679%
1946 — 952 0.0645%
1947 — 1,081 0.0648%
1948 — 1,136 0.0712%
1949 — 1,163 0.0723%
1950 — 1,196 0.0743%
1951 — 1,206 0.0711%
1952 — 1,226 0.0702%
1953 — 1,245 0.0703%
1954 — 1,190 0.0651%
1955 — 1,308 0.0711%
1956 — 1,271 0.0673%
1957 — 1,234 0.0641%
1958 — 1,068 0.0565%
1959 — 1,140 0.06%
1960 — 1,101 0.0581%
1961 — 1,023 0.0542%
1962 — 1,052 0.0573%
1963 — 985 0.0549%
1964 — 995 0.0565%
1965 — 1,041 0.0637%
1966 — 877 0.0562%
1967 — 936 0.0617%
1968 — 878 0.0585%
1969 — 968 0.0628%
1970 — 1,107 0.0696%
1971 — 1,191 0.0793%
1972 — 1,188 0.0872%
1973 — 1,373 0.1059%
1974 — 1,589 0.1223%
1975 — 1,945 0.1514%
1976 — 2,207 0.1712%
1977 — 2,495 0.1851%
1978 — 2,926 0.2176%
1979 — 3,041 0.2157%
1980 — 3,489 0.2386%
1981 — 3,720 0.2531%
1982 — 3,938 0.2635%
1983 — 3,641 0.2467%
1984 — 3,598 0.2419%
1985 — 4,002 0.2637%
1986 — 4,030 0.267%
1987 — 4,046 0.2651%
1988 — 4,055 0.2602%
1989 — 4,118 0.2552%
1990 — 4,342 0.262%
1991 — 4,368 0.268%
1992 — 4,687 0.2936%
1993 — 4,850 0.3111%
1994 — 5,028 0.3276%
1995 — 5,203 0.3452%
1996 — 5,419 0.3619%
1997 — 5,774 0.3904%
1998 — 6,427 0.4294%
1999 — 6,464 0.4316%
2000 — 6,797 0.4449%
2001 — 6,644 0.441%
2002 — 6,812 0.4546%
2003 — 6,665 0.4381%
2004 — 6,667 0.4374%
2005 — 6,682 0.437%
2006 — 6,624 0.423%
2007 — 6,059 0.384%
2008 — 5,850 0.3785%
2009 — 5,424 0.3629%
2010 — 5,094 0.3535%
2011 — 4,967 0.3486%
2012 — 4,780 0.3354%
2013 — 4,521 0.3175%
2014 — 4,301 0.2952%
2015 — 4,201 0.2887%
2016 — 3,861 0.2678%
2017 — 3,496 0.2505%
2018 — 3,342 0.2432%
2019 — 3,065 0.2264%
2020 — 2,841 0.2232%
2021 — 2,794 0.2286%
2022 — 2,666 0.2021%
2023 — 2,521 0.1948%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Nathaniel

If you like Nathaniel, you’ll love these other names like Nathaniel.

What names are diminutives of Nathaniel?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Nathaniel sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Nathaniel, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Nat

A diminutive form of Nathan and Nathaniel.

English

Nate

God has given

Hebrew

Nates

A short form of Nathan and Nathaniel.

What names are variants of Nathaniel?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Nathaniel.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Nat

A diminutive form of Nathan and Nathaniel.

English

Natanael

God has given

Hebrew

Nataniel

God has given

Hebrew

Nate

God has given

Hebrew

Nathan

He gave

Hebrew

Nathanael

God has given

Hebrew

Nathaneal

God has given

Hebrew

Nathanial

God has given

Hebrew

Nathanyal

God has given

Hebrew

Nathanyel

God has given

Hebrew

Natty

God has given

Hebrew

Nethanel

God has given

Hebrew

Nethaniel

God has given

Hebrew

Nethanyel

God has given

Hebrew

Thaniel

God has given

Hebrew

Lists With Nathaniel

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Nathaniel.

Siblings of Nathaniel

Mamas with kids named Nathaniel also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Thomas

Twin

Greek

Nathalie

Birthday

Latin

Sebastian

Venerable or honorable

Greek

Ameliana
Sage

Healing herb

Latin

Zuri

Beautiful

African

Israel

God contends

Hebrew

Azariah

Helped by God

Hebrew

Jazzy

American

30 Comments

  1. Nathaniel is my cousin name he is all always calm.

    Reply

  2. My husband and I chose the name based on the meaning and whether we already knew someone with that particular name. Nathaniel means gift of God which we thought was perfectly well suited for our little baby boy.

    Reply

  3. Nathaniel meaning a gift from God. We wanted a name that meant something biblically to us.

    Reply

  4. Named after his dad’s middle name and his middle name is Leonidas which is found in the Bible

    Reply

  5. We prayed for a baby for almost 10 years and had our miracle daughter Anastasia in 2021 we didn’t think it would happen again but my husband always prayed for a son too. When we found out we were pregnant again and it was a boy we had a few names picked but ended up really liking Nathaniel because of the meaning of (God has heard)

    Reply

  6. His name means gift of God which he is

    Reply

  7. This name means “gift of God” which is a reminder to me (and will sometimes be necessary to remind myself through difficult times) of his being a blessing, a good gift. In the Gosple of John, Jesus calls Nathaniel (referred to as Bartholomew in the other Gosples) to be one of his 12 closest followers because “there is no deceit” in him, a quality I want my son to strive for. Nathaniel is also honest in his skepticism about Jesus at first asking, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” yet he doesn’t let that stop him from seeking out the truth of the Lord himself.

    Reply

  8. He is my gift from God.

    Reply

  9. I chose the name Nathaniel because he is a gift from God. God gave me a son when l least expected.

    Reply

  10. He is a gift from God

    Reply

  11. He is God give.

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  12. He is my gift from God, l asked God and he answered me.

    Reply

  13. I actually chose the name Cassius for my son Nathaniel but his father didn’t agree and said his name should be Nathaniel Lee. I love my sons name but I would have rather have had his name be something a little more simpler.

    Reply

  14. We asked God to name our child, as my husband and I could not agree on one. Very soon after we prayed about it, my husband had been reading his Bible and came across the name, and loved it! Turns out, it means, “Given of God”, or “Gift from God”!

    Reply

  15. Traditional name, not too popular

    Reply

  16. I love how this name is not super common anymore but everyone still knows how to pronounce it

    Reply

  17. We chose Nathaniel mainly because of the meaning- “Gift from God”. We also liked the fact that both of our names end in the “iel” (Daniel and Ariel) and that his name would continue that.

    Reply

  18. Nathaniel is our first baby. We struggled with years of infertility and were told by two different reproductive endocrinologists that we had less than a 1% chance of getting pregnant. After years of prayer, he was spontaneously conceived without ART. Nathaniel means gift from God. And he really is!

    His middle names are Hans (German version of John, meaning God is gracious) and Freddie (peaceful ruler) to honor family members.

    We searched baby name books and online tools to come up with the name.

    Reply

  19. It means gift from God. And he is a gift from God.

    Reply

  20. Nathaniel is my great grand father’s name.

    Reply

  21. He was named after my mother who’s mame is Natalie

    Reply

  22. I have loved the name Nathaniel for a long time and it shortens nicely to Nate. When I looked up the meaning of the name, it is Hebrew for “God has given”. Seemed extra appropriate since I gave up on having children. My little man certainly is a gift. His middle names are to honour the men in our families, but we wanted the first name to be of his own identity.

    Reply

  23. He’s named after his daddy

    Reply

  24. It means God given Gifts!

    He came as a gift to me and his Daddy
    We are so much glad to be a first time parent! And we accredit this privileged to God….

    Reply

  25. He was named after my uncle

    Reply

  26. Our fourth baby was a gender surprise, we already have three girls, so we were SURE it was another girl! Instead a beautiful boy came to meet us after a very long pushing phase, which put us into the next day, coincidentally my late uncle’s birthday. His name was John, and in the Bible, Nathaniel is the follower of John, and we loved the name. There you have it! It took us a week to get there! 🙂

    Reply

  27. Nathaniel means Gift from God?I feel the meaning is self explanatory and spot on! Our precious little guy was nothing less than just that.

    Reply

  28. Nathaniel means Gift from God?I feel the meaning is self explanatory and spot on! Our precious little guy was nothing less than a perfect Goft from God!

    Reply

  29. Nathaniel means “gift from god” and my son is truly a gift from above. Plus I just really like the name. His nick names are Nate the great, plain Nate and Nathan…or Neal ( the initials for his full name)

    Wonderful baby boy name

    Reply

  30. Name means “Gift from God.”. He is our rainbow baby after infertility and truly a miracle and gift.

    Reply

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