Nathanael

Where Nathanael comes from

From Ancient Greek Ναθαναήλ (Nathanaḗl), from Biblical Hebrew נְתַנְאֵל (Netan'el, literally “God has given”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Nathanael
  • Hebrew
Along the way
  1. 1742
    Nathanael Greene born
    American general in the American Revolutionary War
  2. 1903
    Nathanael West born
    American writer and screenwriter
  3. 1915
    First appearance
    #3,392 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  4. 1998
    Peak, #405
    600 babies named Nathanael — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Hebrew; more common in the form Nathaniel.
Namesakes
  • Nathanael West · American writer and screenwriter, 1903–1940
  • Nathanael Greene · American general in the American Revolutionary War, 1742–1786
  • Nathanael Pringsheim · German botanist, 1823–1894
  • Nathanael Matthaeus von Wolf · astronomer and botanist, 1724–1784
  • Nathanael of Ohrid · Bulgarian cleric, writer and revolutionary, 1820–1906

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.