Natanael
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "Gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 2,360 living Americans carry the first name Natanael. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Natanael today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Natanael births was 2020 (176 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Natanael. 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 Natanael with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Natanael is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 145,235 Americans
Peak year
2020
176 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,275
Tracked since 1962
Census
Natanael in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,346 people with the first name Natanael, which placed it at #6,742 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
#6,742
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,346 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
90.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Natanael
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Natanael is Hispanic at 90.4%. The next largest groups are White (6.5%) and Black (1.9%). 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 Natanael 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 Natanael at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.4% · 2,121
- White6.5% · 153
- Black or African American1.9% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 16
- Two or more races0.3% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Popularity
Natanael: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Natanael from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 702 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Natanael 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 Natanael during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Natanaels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Natanael, while Oklahoma, Maryland, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 94 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Natanael
The name Natanael has its origins in the Hebrew language, derived from the words "נתן" (Natan), meaning "given" or "gift," and "אל" (El), meaning "God" or "divine." It is a variant spelling of the more common biblical name Nathanael, which first appears in the Gospel of John in the New Testament.
The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 1st century AD, when it is mentioned in the biblical account of Nathanael, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. Nathanael is described as a man from Cana in Galilee, who initially expressed skepticism about Jesus being the Messiah but later became a devoted follower after their encounter.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Natanael. One of the earliest was Natanael ben Fayyumi (c. 9th century AD), a Jewish philosopher and grammarian from Egypt who wrote commentaries on the Bible and other religious texts. Another prominent figure was Natanael Ghillany (1541-1624), a German mathematician and astronomer who made contributions to the study of logarithms and the calculation of planetary orbits.
In the realm of literature, the name Natanael appears in various works, including the novel "The Wandering Jew" by Eugène Sue (1844), where it is the name of one of the main characters. Additionally, the Norwegian writer and dramatist Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) featured a character named Natanael in his play "The Wild Duck" (1884).
In the world of music, one notable bearer of the name was Natanael Berg (1879-1957), a Swedish composer and conductor known for his operas and orchestral works. Another was Natanael Díaz (1875-1950), a Colombian composer and pianist who played a significant role in the development of Colombian classical music.
The name Natanael has also been borne by several religious figures throughout history, such as Natanael Soderblom (1866-1931), a Swedish Lutheran theologian and Archbishop of Uppsala who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930 for his efforts to promote Christian unity and peace.
Regardless of its relatively uncommon usage, the name Natanael has endured through centuries, carrying with it a rich historical and cultural significance rooted in its biblical origins and the diverse individuals who have carried this name throughout the ages.
People
Natanael + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Natanael 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
Natanael: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Natanael?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,360 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Natanael 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 145,235 US residents.
Is Natanael a common name?
We classify Natanael as "Rare". It ranks above 94.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,393 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Natanael most popular?
The single biggest year for Natanael was 2020, when 176 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Natanael is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Natanael in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,346 people with the name Natanael, or 0.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,742 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 Natanael 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 Natanael?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Natanael appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,349 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Natanael?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Natanael is Hispanic at 90.4%. The next largest groups are White (6.5%) and Black (1.9%). 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 Natanael most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Natanael in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (2,121 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 Natanael in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Natanael a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Natanael 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 Natanael still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Natanael 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 Natanael 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 Natanael?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.