embrisa.
embrisa.
Theme
Masculine

Nathan

/ˈneɪ.θən/

He gave

Hebrew

How to say it

NA · than

/ˈneɪ.θən/

What it means

Hebrew Natan, 'he gave' (implying God gave). The prophet Nathan in the Old Testament confronted King David over Bathsheba.

Nathan comes from the Hebrew Natan ('he gave'), short for theophoric names like Nathaniel ('God has given') or Jonathan ('Yahweh has given'). In the Second Book of Samuel, the prophet Nathan confronts King David with the parable of the rich man and the poor man's lamb after David's affair with Bathsheba; it's one of the most famous moral confrontations in the Hebrew Bible. The name surged with the broader biblical-name revival of the 1970s through the 1990s. Nate is the universal short.

Popularity over time

#10 #100 #1 #27318802025

peaked at #20 in 2004, currently #63 in 2025.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving

Heads-up notes

  • Nickname

    Nate is universal. Nathaniel is a longer formal form; many Nathans use the short Nathan as the formal name itself.

Who's worn it

Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.

  • Nathan (Bible) Prophet who confronted King David over Bathsheba
  • Nathan Lane Actor, The Producers and Modern Family
  • Nathan Hale Revolutionary War soldier hanged by the British in 1776 ('I regret that I have but one life to give')

Spelling variants

  • Nathaniel
  • Nat
  • Natan