Nathan
Nathan is ranked 62nd among boys in 2024 (5,010 births). Its best rank was 20th, in 2004–2005.
- Rank in 2024
- #62down 3 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 5,0100.29% of boys
- Peak year
- 200414,633 births
- Best rank
- #20first in 2004
- Since 1880
- 584,253people given the name
The story in the numbers
582,484 boys have been named Nathan in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2004, with 14,633 births — 0.74% 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 38 → 62).
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, 53 of them in the top 100.
It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 1,769 girls have also been given it, 0.30% of the total.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Nathan | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,106 | |
| 1890s | 1,180 | |
| 1900s | 1,616 | |
| 1910s | 7,132 | |
| 1920s | 6,715 | |
| 1930s | 4,699 | |
| 1940s | 5,577 | |
| 1950s | 10,127 | |
| 1960s | 15,527 | |
| 1970s | 65,868 | |
| 1980s | 105,994 | |
| 1990s | 107,319 | |
| 2000s | 134,854 | |
| 2010s | 88,024 | |
| 2020s | 26,746 |
In 2004, its biggest year
Nathan was the 20th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 2004 were Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew and Ethan. See all of 2004.
Names that rose and fell with Nathan
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Jamilpeak 1991
- Omarpeak 2007
- Domonicpeak 2004
- Juanpeak 2005
- Josefpeak 1999
- Miguelpeak 2007
- Nathanielpeak 2002
- Arunpeak 1995
Other spellings in the data
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.