Nathaniel: Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, & Inspiration

Boy name origins & meanings

Hebrew : Gift of God

What does Nathaniel mean and stand for?

The name Nathaniel is of Hebrew origin and means "gift of God." It is derived from the Hebrew name Netan’el, which is composed of the words natan (“to give”) and ’el (in reference to God).

Syllables: 3

Boy name variations

Family name origins & meanings

From the Biblical Hebrew personal name meaning ‘given by God’. This was borne by a minor prophet in the Bible (2 Samuel 7 : 2). It is found as both a Jewish and Gentile surname in Europe. In South India it is used as a given name among Christians, and in the U.S. it has come to be used as a family name among South Indian Christians.

Famous people who gave their babies this name

Andrew Shue

Popularity

According to Social Security Administration data, Nathaniel has been steadily decreasing in popularity after falling out of the top 100 in 2016. Despite the downfall, Nathaniel remains in the top 130.

However, it is the 19th most popular name on FamilyEducation.com.

According to Google search data analysis, in the last five years Nathaniel was at its peak popularity in March 2020.

Nathaniel is a popular name in both the Old and New Testament (usually spelled Nathanael), in the New Testament, Nathaniel is also known as Bartholomew. Nathaniel is a popular name in literature, with Revolutionary General Nathanael Greene, rebel slave Nat Turner, writers Nathaniel Hawthorne and Nathanael (born Nathan) West. Characters named Nathaniel appear in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers, and Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. It is also a popular name for characters, appearing in Gossip Girl, Pirates of the Caribbean, Enchanted, The Wire, and Six Feet Under.