Meaning and history
Nathan comes from the Hebrew name נָתָן (Naṯan), meaning “he gave.” In the Old Testament, it was the name of a prophet in King David’s reign who rebuked David for his adultery with Bathsheba and the death of Uriah the Hittite, and later supported Solomon as David’s successor; it was also the name of a son of David and Bathsheba. The name has been used as a Christian given name in the English-speaking world since the Protestant Reformation, and a notable bearer was Nathan Hale (1755–1776), the American spy executed by the British during the American Revolution.
20062006: 14,278 births, rank #23
2007: 13,605 births, rank #24
2008: 13,262 births, rank #21
2009: 12,135 births, rank #25
2010: 11,380 births, rank #27
20112011: 10,523 births, rank #28
2012: 10,431 births, rank #29
2013: 9,721 births, rank #31
2014: 8,997 births, rank #38
2015: 8,600 births, rank #38
20162016: 8,000 births, rank #43
2017: 7,442 births, rank #45
2018: 6,850 births, rank #48
2019: 6,090 births, rank #55
2020: 5,702 births, rank #55
20212021: 5,432 births, rank #59
2022: 5,544 births, rank #57
2023: 5,073 births, rank #59
2024: 5,029 births, rank #62
20252025: 4,975 births, rank #63
Nathan has unusual staying power. It appears in the US records as early as 1880 and still ranks #63 for boys in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2004, with 14,634 births.