Nathaniel
From the Hebrew Netanel, 'God has given'. It belongs to a disciple in the Gospel of John, generally identified with Bartholomew.
Nathaniel in 2025
Nathaniel was given to 2,565 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 256th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 1,293 babies born.
The history of Nathaniel
Nathaniel reached its highest point in 2002, when 6,829 babies were given the name, ranking 102nd that year.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 288,265 babies have been named Nathaniel. Half of them were born before 1996, which places the name's centre of gravity with Millennials.
Nathaniel by decade
| Decade | Babies named Nathaniel | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 551 | 401 |
| 1890s | 684 | 465 |
| 1900s | 1,143 | 448 |
| 1910s | 4,813 | 393 |
| 1920s | 7,847 | 396 |
| 1930s | 7,472 | 393 |
| 1940s | 9,560 | 382 |
| 1950s | 12,517 | 394 |
| 1960s | 10,295 | 484 |
| 1970s | 19,363 | 194 |
| 1980s | 38,926 | 148 |
| 1990s | 52,681 | 108 |
| 2000s | 64,392 | 102 |
| 2010s | 41,921 | 133 |
| 2020s | 16,100 | 223 |
Where Nathaniel is heading
Nathaniel has fallen 39% over the past decade, from 4,234 babies in 2015 to 2,565 in 2025.
Names like Nathaniel
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Nathaniel.