Nathan

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈneɪθən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Na‧than

Etymology 1

From Hebrew נָתָן (natán, “gave”). Also short for Jonathan.

Proper noun

Nathan (countable and uncountable, plural Nathans)

1. An Old Testament prophet who advised King David.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Samuel 12:5–7:

     And Dauids anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liueth, the man that hath done this thing, shall surely die. And he shall restore the Lambe fourefold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pittie. And Nathan said to Dauid, Thou art the man: […]

2. The fourth son of King David and father of Mattatha
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Samuel 5:14:

     the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

3. A male given name from Hebrew, of Biblical origin.
   • 1972, Nate Perlmutter, A Bias of Reflections: Confessions of an Incipient Old Jew, Arlington House, →ISBN, page 27:

     I used to envy my brother his name, and recall once accusing my mother of having favored him, else why did she name me Nathan and him Philip, tell me that, ma, tell me that. He had king Philip and if day-dreaming that association wasn't pleasure enough, there was the then movie star, Phillips Holmes. All I had was Nathan Hale. Admittedly, Nathan Hale would have been fine — except among our schoolyard ditties was the couplet: Nathan Hale, / Nathan Hale, / He shit in a pail, / Shit in a pail. Being a Nathan was sometimes trying.

   • 2007, Rose Lamatt, Lifeline Online, →ISBN, page 128:

     He was so proud he'd had a son. He talked me into naming him Nathan saying he had always loved that name. I was surprised to see when I looked it up in a name book it meant gift from God. And yes that was a very appropriate name.

4. An English surname originating as a patronymic.

   Alternative form: Nation

5. An Ashkenazi surname from Hebrew [in turn originating as a patronymic], a variant of Natan.
6. A suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; named for Matthew Nathan, 13th Governor of Queensland.

Usage notes

• A popular given name in English-speaking countries from the 1980s.

Derived terms

given name diminutives

• Nat
• Nate

 

Related terms

• Jonathan
• Nathanael
• Nathaniel

 

Translations

biblical prophet

• Armenian: Նաթան (Natʻan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 拿單／拿单 (Nádān) (Protestant), 納堂／纳堂 (Nàtáng) (Catholic)

• Coptic: ⲛⲁⲑⲁⲛ (nathan)
• Finnish: Naatan, Natan
• French: Nathan (fr)
• German: Natan m
• Greek: Νάθαν (el) (Náthan)
• Hebrew: נָתָן (he) m (natán)
• Latin: Nāthan m
• Macedonian: Натан (Natan)
• Maltese: Natan
• Polish: Natan (pl) m
• Portuguese: Natã (pt) m
• Russian: Ната́н (ru) m (Natán)
• Spanish: Natán
• Yiddish: נתן m (nosn)

male given name

• Armenian: Նաթան (Natʻan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 內森／内森 (Nèisēn)

• Finnish: Naatan (fairly rare)
• French: Nathan (fr)
• German: Nathan (de) m, Natan m
• Hebrew: נָתָן (he) m (natán)
• Hungarian: Nátán (hu)
• Japanese: ネーサン (Nēsan)
• Macedonian: Натан (Natan)
• Maltese: Natan
• Maori: Nātana
• Polish: Natan (pl) m
• Portuguese: Natã (pt) m, Natan (pt) m
• Russian: На́тан (ru) m (Nátan)
• Spanish: Natán m, Natan m
• Yiddish: נתן m (nosn)

Etymology 2

From a 2014 meme which suggested that white people should replace the word nigga in rap songs with Nathan. The present meaning of the term dates from around 2017.

Noun

Nathan (plural Nathans)

1. (slang, hip-hop, derogatory) A white hip-hop fan, especially one who listens to white rappers and looks down on mumble rap.
   • 2019 November 25, u/Szillar, “Mumble rappers be like:”, in Reddit‎^[1], r/dankmemes, archived from the original on 30 September 2023:

     A Nathan is a stereotype who usually listens to white rappers like Eminem,logic and NF, and hates new rap

   • 2022 February 28, u/uselessrart, “Mummble acceptance in dhh.”, in Reddit‎^[2], r/IndianHipHopHeads, archived from the original on 30 September 2023:

     Nathans are infinitely worse than mumble/trap fans

   • 2022 December 19, “Hiphop 10 years from now?”, in Reddit‎^[3], r/hiphopheads, archived from the original on 30 September 2023:

     it would be nice if the new fans would go away or at least change who they are completely. i love seeing bladee & company win but these 100 gec ass nathans are like locusts going from one artist's chronically online fanbase to the next. sematary went down quick lol. once fantano reviewed rb3 it was over

Anagrams

• Han-tan, tannah, thanna

Cebuano

Etymology

From English Nathan, from Hebrew נָתָן (natán, “gave”). Also short for English Jonathan.

Proper noun

Nathan

1. (biblical) Nathan
2. a male given name from English [in turn from Hebrew]

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na.tɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Nathan m

1. Nathan (biblical prophet)
2. a male given name, currently popular

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Nathan m (proper noun, strong, genitive Nathans)

1. Nathan (biblical prophet)
2. a male given name

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek [Term?], derived from Biblical Hebrew נָתָן (Natán).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈnaː.tʰan/, [ˈnäːt̪ʰän]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈna.tan/, [ˈnäːt̪än]

Proper noun

Nāthan m sg (indeclinable)

1. (biblical) Nathan

Declension

Indeclinable noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Nāthan
Genitive	Nāthan
Dative	Nāthan
Accusative	Nāthan
Ablative	Nāthan
Vocative	Nāthan

References

• “Nathan”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Nathan in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /naˈtɐ̃/

Proper noun

Nathan m

1. a male given name, variant of Natã