How common is the name Nathaniel?

189,977 people in the United States have the first name Nathaniel, about 1 in 1,590. It ranks #292 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NATHANIEL

#292

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
189,977
About
1 in 1,590
This common or more
48.5%
Who bears it

Of the 189,977 people named Nathaniel, 56% reported their origin as White, 19% as Black and 15.2% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nathaniel peaked in 2002, when 6,829 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2002
Births that year
6,829
In 2025*
2,565 ▼62%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 288,265 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.

Nathaniel by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2000s, when it ranked #106. The largest share of babies named Nathaniel, 34%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#478551
1890s#547684
1900s#4811,143
1910s#4354,813
1920s#4147,847
1930s#4167,472
1940s#4059,560
1950s#43112,517
1960s#51610,295
1970s#29519,363
1980s#15338,926
1990s#13752,681
2000s#10664,392
2010s#15741,921
2020s#25216,100
Before 19010.5%
Greatest Generation 1901–274.2%
Silent Generation 1928–454.9%
Baby boom 1946–647.8%
Generation X 1965–809.6%
Millennials 1981–9624.1%
Generation Z 1997–1234%
2013 and later15%

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 Nathaniel is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nathaniel has been most common in South Carolina (1.9×), Alaska (1.9×), and District of Columbia (1.7×), and least common in North Dakota (0.51×).

282,870 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 Nathaniel

#290 Tony · 191,115#291 Riley · 191,103#293 Ricardo · 189,959#294 Claudia · 189,171

Spelled almost the same

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

#1,798 Nathanael · 16,476#2,783 Nathanial · 8,361#6,730 Natanael · 2,349#13,866 Nataniel · 861#14,151 Nathanel · 838#15,961 Nathaneal · 713#25,533 Nathanal · 371#30,816 Nathaneil · 281

Also a last name

As a last name, Nathaniel ranks #15,866 of 156,621, with 1,768 people. See Nathaniel as a last name

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