Nathaniel
Nathaniel is ranked 144th among boys in 2024 (2,511 births). Its best rank was 60th, in 1998.
- Rank in 2024
- #144down 1 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 2,5110.15% of boys
- Peak year
- 20026,813 births
- Best rank
- #60in 1998
- Since 1880
- 285,643people given the name
The story in the numbers
284,481 boys have been named Nathaniel in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2002, with 6,813 births — 0.35% of all boys recorded that year.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 94 → 144).
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1996, and the 2000s alone account for 23%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 38 of them in the top 100.
It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 1,162 girls have also been given it, 0.41% of the total.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Nathaniel | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 551 | |
| 1890s | 684 | |
| 1900s | 1,143 | |
| 1910s | 4,795 | |
| 1920s | 7,794 | |
| 1930s | 7,411 | |
| 1940s | 9,490 | |
| 1950s | 12,388 | |
| 1960s | 10,192 | |
| 1970s | 19,185 | |
| 1980s | 38,650 | |
| 1990s | 52,576 | |
| 2000s | 64,259 | |
| 2010s | 41,875 | |
| 2020s | 13,488 |
In 2002, its biggest year
Nathaniel was the 62nd most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 2002 were Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew and Ethan. See all of 2002.
Names that rose and fell with Nathaniel
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Jesuspeak 2004
- Grantpeak 1997
- Pablopeak 2006
- Bricepeak 1989
- Franciscopeak 1993
- Enriquepeak 2000
- Agustinpeak 2001
- Saulpeak 2006
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.