Natan
A masculine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,539 living Americans carry the first name Natan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Natan today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Natan births was 2017 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Natan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Natan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Natan is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 222,712 Americans
Peak year
2017
65 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,491
Tracked since 1968
Census
Natan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,981 people with the first name Natan, which placed it at #7,634 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,634
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,981 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Natan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Natan is White at 52.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.7%) and Black (19.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Natan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Natan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.7% · 1,043
- Hispanic or Latino23.7% · 469
- Black or African American19.0% · 376
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 43
- Two or more races2.1% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 9
Popularity
Natan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Natan from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 535 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Natan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Natan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Natan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Natans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Natan, while Oregon, Massachusetts, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Natan
The name Natan has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "natan," meaning "to give" or "gift." This name has been used for centuries in various communities and regions where Hebrew culture and traditions have had an influence.
One of the earliest and most prominent references to the name Natan can be found in the Hebrew Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of a prophet and one of the sons of David. In the biblical account, Natan played a significant role in conveying God's messages to King David and advising him on important matters of state and faith.
Throughout history, the name Natan has been borne by numerous individuals of note. One of the earliest recorded examples is Natan ben Isaac, a renowned Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in the 11th century in Rome. He made significant contributions to the study of Jewish law and ethics.
Another notable figure with the name Natan was Natan Nata Spingarn, a Polish-American writer and Zionist activist who lived from 1887 to 1958. He played a crucial role in the establishment of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was a prominent figure in the Zionist movement.
In the realm of literature, Natan Alterman (1910-1970) was an influential Israeli poet, playwright, and journalist. His works, which often focused on themes of national identity and social commentary, had a profound impact on Israeli culture and the development of modern Hebrew literature.
The name Natan has also been associated with individuals in the field of science and academia. One example is Natan Rosen (1835-1905), a Russian-born mathematician and engineer who made significant contributions to the study of differential geometry and tensor analysis.
Another individual worth mentioning is Natan Sharansky (born 1948), a former Soviet dissident and human rights activist. He spent nine years imprisoned in the Soviet Union for his advocacy of Jewish emigration rights and later became a prominent figure in Israeli politics, serving as a member of the Knesset and in various ministerial positions.
The name Natan has a rich history and has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and fields, reflecting its enduring appeal and cultural significance across various eras and regions influenced by Hebrew tradition and culture.
People
Natan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Natan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Natan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Natan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,539 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Natan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 222,712 US residents.
Is Natan a common name?
We classify Natan as "Rare". It ranks above 92.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,562 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Natan most popular?
The single biggest year for Natan was 2017, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Natan is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Natan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,981 people with the name Natan, or 0.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,634 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Natan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Natan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Natan appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,975 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Natan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Natan is White at 52.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.7%) and Black (19.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Natan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Natan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.7% (1,043 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Natan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Natan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Natan in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Natan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Natan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Natan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Natan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.