Nathaniel

Hebrew

"gift of God"

Nathaniel Origin and Meaning

The name Nathaniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of God".

Nathaniel was derived from the Hebrew name Netan’el, meaning "gift of God," composed of the elements natan, meaning "to give," and ’el, in reference to God. The name is featured several times in the Old and New Testaments, typically spelled Nathanael. In the New Testament, Nathanael is also known by his other name, Bartholomew.

Although Nathan is more popular, the more dignified Nathaniel dropped out of the Top 100 for the first time since 1977 in 2016. Despite the profusion of Nat names around, Nathaniel remains singularly appealing and distinctive, with several attractive nicknames — Nat, Natty and Nate.

A boy named Nathaniel would have any number of real life and literary namesakes to inspire him. These include Revolutionary General Nathanael Greene, enslaved rebel Nat Turner, writers Nathaniel Hawthorne and Nathanael (born Nathan) West, lithographer Nathaniel Currier, partner of Ives, and singer/pianist Nat "King" Cole.

An early literary character with the name is Sir Nathaniel in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. And then there was Natty Bumpo in James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, Nathaniel Winkle in Dickens's The Pickwick Papers, and later Dr. Nathaniel Branden in Atlas Shrugged.

In the realm of pop culture, we find such Nathaniels as Nate Fisher in Six Feet Under, and others in The Wire, Gossip Girl and Enchanted, as well as Pirates of the Caribbean character Nathaniel Hawk.

Nathaniel Rank in US Top 1000

# 143 in the US

Nathaniel Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 64 on Nameberry

Nathaniel Popularity

• 143 US 2023
• 64 Nameberry 2024
• 124 Canada 2023
• 405 Future 2028
• 177 England 2023
• 184 Scotland 2023
• 95 Australia 2018
• 91 New Zealand 2014

20 Names Similar to Nathaniel

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Nathaniel.

• Nathan
• Samuel
• Benjamin
• Gabriel
• Elijah
• Daniel
• Alexander
• James
• William
• Theodore
• Noah
• Nicholas
• Thomas
• Caleb
• Isaac
• Ethan
• Sebastian
• Lucas
• Zachary
• Jacob

Famous People Named Nathaniel

• Nathaniel Hawthorne American novelist
• Nathaniel Parker Willis American author, poet, and editor
• Nathaniel Joseph "Nate" Ruess American singer
• Nathaniel Dwayne Hale better known as Nate Dogg, American rapper
• Nathaniel Adams Coles birth name of Nat King Cole, American singer
• Nathaniel Prentice Banks American Civil War general; 24th governor of Massachusetts
• Nathaniel Macon U.S. Senator and Speaker of the House from North Carolina
• Nathaniel Silsbee U.S. Senator from Massachusetts
• Nathaniel Briggs Borden U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts
• Nathaniel Brown Palmer American sea captain and explorer
• Nathaniel Marvin "Nat" Wolff American actor and singer,songwriter
• Nathaniel "Nate" Motte American musician
• Nathaniel Buzolic Australian actor
• Nathaniel Parker English Actor
• Nathaniel Weller (b. 1985) son of singer Paul Weller of The Jam
• Nathaniel Fraser "Nat" Magee (b. 1990) son of actress/singer Alison Fraser and actor/comedian Rusty Magee
• Nathaniel George Caird (b. 1990) son of actress Frances Ruffelle and John Caird
• Kenneth Nathaniel "Nathan" Bates (b. 1993) 5th child (3rd son) of the reality TV show "Bringing Up Bates" family
• Nathaniel Caesar Prats Linsangan (b. 2008) daughter of actress Camille Prats and Anthony C. Linsangan
• Nathaniel James III (b. 2009) son of actress Bobbi Baker and basketball player Nate James
• Nathaniel James "Nate" Alcasid (b. 2011) son of singers Regine Velazquez and Ogie Alcasid
• Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening (b. 2013) son of "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening and Agustina Picasso

Nathaniel in Pop Culture

• Nathaniel "Nate" Fitzwilliam Archibald main character in the "Gossip Girl" series
• Nathaniel "Nate" Gray character in the "Infernal Devices" series
• Nathaniel "Nate" Heywood character in DC's Legends of Tomorrow TV series
• Nathaniel Fisher character on TV's "Six Feet Under"
• Nathanial "Nate" the Great main character in the Nate the Great series
• Nathaniel "Baze" Basil character on TV's "Life Unexpected"
• Nathaniel Howe character in video game 'Dragon Age: Origins , Awakening'
• Nathaniel "Nat" Blake character in 'Little Men' by Louisa May Alcott
• Nathaniel Northwest character in animated series "Gravity Falls"
• Nathaniel main character in the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
• Nathaniel character in 2007 film "Enchanted"
• Nathaniel "Nath " character in My Candy Love game and manga
• Parson Nathaniel character in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
• Nathaniel Ayers title character in 2009 film "The Soloist"
• Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo main character in James Fenimore Cooper's novels
• Nathaniel Dusk DC Comics character
• Nathaniel Garro character in tabletop game Warhammer 40,000
• Nathaniel Graison wereleopard in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton
• Nathaniel Hawk main character in the Pirates of the Caribbean video game
• Nathaniel Hawkins character in J.L. Langley's Sci,Regency series
• Nathaniel Kent character in John Steakley's novel "Armor"
• Nathaniel "Nathan" Montenegro character on Filipino TV's "Walang Hanggan"
• Nathaniel Taggart character in Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged"
• Nathaniel Taylor character on TV's "Terra Nova"
• Sir Nathaniel curate in Shakespeare's "Love's Labor's Lost"
• Nathaniel "Nat" Eaton character in Elizabeth George Speare's "The Witch of Blackbird Pond"
• Nathaniel Kurtzberg character in TV show "Miraculous Ladybug"
• Nathaniel Plimpton III character on TV's "Crazy Ex,Girlfriend"