Nathan

Hebrew

"given"

Nathan Origin and Meaning

The name Nathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "given".

Nathan is an Old Testament name that's ranked among the Top 100 names for boys for 50 years, and could well stay there for another 50. Strong, solid, and attractive, It's a name familiar to every schoolchild through Nathan Hale, the Revolutionary War spy.

Nathan was derived from the name Natan, which came from Hebrew verb natan, meaning "gave." In the Old Testament, Nathan was the name of a prophet and also that of one of King David's sons. Nathaniel and Jonathan are related names.

Along with the US, Nathan ranks in the Top 100 throughout the English-speaking world as well as in France, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

Nat and Nate (as featured on TV shows like Six Feet Under and Gossip Girl) are just the kind of friendly, old-fashioned nicknames that are now very much in style.

Nathans have starred in some classic films — it was the name of the character played by Kevin Kline in Sophie's Choice, by Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, and Frank Sinatra was Nathan Detroit in the film version of Guys and Dolls. Nathan Zuckerman is the protagonist of several novels by Philip Roth.

In the public eye right now is Nathan Fillion, who portrays TV's Castle. Nathan was chosen for his son by Jon Stewart.

Nathan Rank in US Top 1000

# 59 in the US

Nathan Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 177 on Nameberry

Nathan Popularity

• 59 US 2023
• 177 Nameberry 2024
• 14 Canada 2023
• 715 Future 2028
• 99 England 2021
• 60 Scotland 2023
• 61 Ireland 2023
• 72 Australia 2016
• 70 New Zealand 2023
• 26 France 2023
• 189 Germany 2016
• 90 Netherlands 2023
• 39 Italy 2022
• 25 Belgium 2023
• 61 Switzerland 2023
• 192 Poland 2020

20 Names Similar to Nathan

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

• Nathaniel
• Ethan
• Daniel
• Luke
• Adam
• Matthew
• Andrew
• Nicholas
• Joshua
• Jacob
• Benjamin
• Samuel
• Lucas
• Zachary
• Caleb
• Thomas
• Noah
• Aaron
• James
• Seth

Famous People Named Nathan

• Nathan Biblical prophet
• Nathan of Zobah father of one of David's mighty men (2 Samuel 23:36)
• Nathan brother of Joel, a valiant man in David's armies (1 Chr. 11:38)
• Nathan Biblical son of David and Bathsheba
• Nathan mentioned in Ezra 8:16
• Nathan Hale American revolutionary
• Nathan Karl Kress American actor
• Joseph "Nathan" Lane American actor
• Nathan Page Australian actor
• Nathan James Sykes English singer of band The Wanted
• Nathan Ghar jun Adrian, American Olympic swimmer
• Nathan Russell Horton Canadian NHL Hockey player
• Nathan Christopher Fillion Canadian actor
• (Ivan) Nathan Followill American musician of band Kings of Leon
• Nathan William Hindmarsh Australian Rugby League Player
• Nathan Charles Buckley Australian rules footballer
• Nathan Darmody American musician of band Allstar Weekend
• Nathan Abraham Lauren Fagan Gayle aka Starboy Nathan, English R&B singer
• Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison American drummer of band Slipknot
• Lars Olof Jonathan "Nathan" Söderblom Swedish bishop; winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
• Nathan Lithgow son of American actor John Lithgow
• Nathan Hawes Australian pop singer
• Nathan Cole Som American child model
• Nathan Furst American composer; son of actor Stephen Furst
• Nathan Mandrell son of singer Barbara Mandrell
• Nathan Howsmon Davis son of singer Jonathan Davis
• Kenneth Nathaniel "Nathan" Bates 5th child (3rd son) of reality TV's "Bringing Up Bates" family
• Nathan Chen American Olympic figure skater
• Nathan Anderson son of actor/comedian Anthony Anderson
• Nathan Garson (adopted 2009) son of actor Willie Garson
• Nathan Fields son of model/TV personality Janice Dickinson and Simon Fields
• Nathan Carroll son of NFL coach Pete Carroll
• Nathan Powell Holroyd (b. 2011) son of actors Scott Holroyd and Allison Munn
• Nathan Sileshi (b. 2015) son of runners Tirunesh Dibaba and Sileshi Sihine
• Nathan Fielder Canadian writer and comedian
• Nathan "Nate" Fuerestein American rapper
• Nathan Ake Dutch professional footballer
• Nathan Joel Foley Australian singer and children's presenter
• Nathan George Harrison British adult entertainer

Nathan in Pop Culture

• Nathan main character in short story "Earth Inherited" by author Justine Avery
• Nathan Detroit main character in musical "Guys & Dolls"
• Nathan Zuckerman character in novels by Philip Roth
• Nathan unseen conqueror in webcomic "The Silver Eye" by Laura Hollingsworth
• Nathan Ford character on TV's "Leverage"
• Nathan Byrn character in Sally Green's "Half Life Trilogy"
• Nathan Royal Scott main character on TV's "One Tree Hill"
• Nathan Petrelli character on TV's "Heroes"
• Nathan McHugh character on TV's "Flight 29 Down"
• Nathan Rhodes character in movie "Bridesmaids"
• Nathan Goldfrappe character in movie "The Invention of Lying"
• Nathan Clay character on TV's "Alphas"
• Nathan Drake main character in the Uncharted video game series
• Nathan Wournos character on TV's "Haven"
• Nathan Dawkins character in video game "Beyond: Two Souls"
• Prince Nathan Val's son in comic strip Prince Valiant
• "Nathan the Wise " 1779 play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
• Nathan Algren main character in film "The Last Samurai"
• Captain Nathan Bridger character on TV's "Seaquest DSV"
• Nathan Copeland character in video game No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle"
• Nathan Explosion character in animated series "Metalocalypse"
• Nathan Grantham character in movie "Creepshow"
• Nathan Graves main character in video game series "Castlevania: Circle of the Moon"
• Nathan Hale main character in video game "Resistance"
• Nathan Horton minor character on American soap "Days of Our Lives"
• Nathan Landau character in "Sophie's Choice" by William Styron
• "Nathan Never " Italian comic book series
• Nathan Sims character in Australian mockumentary "We Can Be Heroes"
• Nathan Stark character on TV's "Eureka"
• Nathan Summers character in X,Men comics
• Nathan Young character on TV show "Misfits"
• "Nathan for You " show on Comedy Central
• Nathan Riggs character on TV's "Grey's Anatomy"
• Nathan “Nate” Cosay character in the animated series “Infinity Train”