How common is the name Nathan?

481,621 people in the United States have the first name Nathan, about 1 in 627. It ranks #93 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NATHAN

#93

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
481,621
About
1 in 627
This common or more
29.2%
Who bears it

Of the 481,621 people named Nathan, 72.2% reported their origin as White, 13.1% as Hispanic or Latino and 5.4% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nathan peaked in 2004, when 14,696 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2004
Births that year
14,696
In 2025*
4,980 ▼66%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 589,271 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Nathan by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2000s, when it ranked #36. The largest share of babies named Nathan, 34.3%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#2951,106
1890s#3861,180
1900s#3951,616
1910s#3357,144
1920s#4656,748
1930s#5294,719
1940s#5595,582
1950s#48710,157
1960s#39315,584
1970s#9066,212
1980s#69106,660
1990s#63107,552
2000s#36135,110
2010s#5188,121
2020s#10031,780
Before 19010.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–272.4%
Silent Generation 1928–451.5%
Baby boom 1946–643.4%
Generation X 1965–8014.5%
Millennials 1981–9628.6%
Generation Z 1997–1234.3%
2013 and later14.9%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Nathan is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nathan has been most common in Utah (2.1×), Alaska (1.8×), and New Hampshire (1.7×), and least common in New Jersey (0.52×).

582,057 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Nathan

#91 Luis · 489,968#92 Christine · 482,596#94 Heather · 473,464#95 Carlos · 473,046

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Nathan, most common first.

#4,002 Nathen · 4,861#7,647 Natan · 1,975#11,562 Nathon · 1,103#18,582 Naythan · 579#27,293 Nathyn · 336#31,546 Naithan · 271#34,742 Nathin · 234#42,079 Nathian · 172

Also a last name

As a last name, Nathan ranks #4,353 of 156,621, with 7,874 people. See Nathan as a last name

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