Nathanael

What Nathanael means

Means “God has given”

From Ancient Greek Ναθαναήλ (Nathanaḗl), from Biblical Hebrew נְתַנְאֵל (Netan'el, literally “God has given”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Nathanael” (revision 93542511), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Nathanael?

US: Steady: #580 in 2015, #632 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #601 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1998, when 600 boys got the name (#405 that year). First in the US records in 1915.

How common

• About 1 in 3,864 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 7,350 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in SD (1.3 per 1,000 boys), NV (0.71 per 1,000 boys), GA (0.52 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Nathanael is #632 in the US and #856 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Nathanael were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Nathanel6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Nathanael

Boys

• Saul#557Editor’s note Down from #494 in 2015 to #557 in 2025 in the US
• Caleb#58possibly “dog”^*
• Samuel#18“God has set or God has placed”^*
• Toby#977Form of Tobias, meaning “my good is YHWH”^*
• Kaleb#295“dog”^*
• Nathan#63“gave”^*

For a sister

• Micah#908“who is like Yahweh”^*
• Mikayla#746Form of Michael, meaning “who is like God?”^*
• Makayla#566Form of Michael, meaning “who is like God?”^*
• Isabel#176“my God is an oath”^*
• Annika#995Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2003, with 1,089 babies; 254 in 2025
• Daniela#302Form of Daniel, meaning “God is my judge”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Nathanael’s. Rank is US 2025.