Nathan Boy
How popular is Nathan?
#63 boy name in 2025
4,975 baby boys were named Nathan in the US in 2025, making it the 63rd most popular boy name. Another 5 girls got the name (#14,938 for girls).
Nathan popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #63 for boys (▼ 1 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 4,975 boys, 5 girls |
| 10-year trend | Falling (-42% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #38 in 2015, #55 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 2004 (14,634 boys) |
| Highest rank | #20 in 2004 (2 years at that rank) |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 100% boys, 0% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 4% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Nathan counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Nathan family of names ranked #68 for boys in 2025 (#69 the year before), with 5,031 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Nathan | 4,975 | 99% |
| Nathen | 27 | 1% |
| Naythan | 19 | 0% |
| Naithan | 10 | 0% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Nathan is most popular
Babies named Nathan per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Delaware: 6.3 per 1,000 (96 boys)
- Connecticut: 5.5 per 1,000 (374 boys)
- Maryland: 5.4 per 1,000 (649 boys)
- New Jersey: 5.4 per 1,000 (1,087 boys)
- Massachusetts: 5.2 per 1,000 (718 boys)
Nathan by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,106 | #114 |
| 1890s | 1,180 | #118 |
| 1900s | 1,616 | #125 |
| 1910s | 7,132 | #108 |
| 1920s | 6,715 | #172 |
| 1930s | 4,699 | #232 |
| 1940s | 5,577 | #243 |
| 1950s | 10,126 | #207 |
| 1960s | 15,524 | #154 |
| 1970s | 65,857 | #36 |
| 1980s | 105,987 | #36 |
| 1990s | 107,332 | #32 |
| 2000s | 134,857 | #20 |
| 2010s | 88,034 | #27 |
| 2020s | 31,755 | #55 |
Boy names about as popular as Nathan
Questions
- Is Nathan a boy or girl name?
- Nathan is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 100% of babies named Nathan were boys.
- How popular is the name Nathan?
- 4,975 baby boys were named Nathan in the US in 2025, making it the 63rd most popular boy name. Another 5 girls got the name (#14,938 for girls).
- When was Nathan most popular?
- Nathan peaked in 2004, when 14,634 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #20, held for 2 years starting in 2004.
- How many people are named Nathan?
- 589,271 babies have been named Nathan in the US since 1880. We estimate about 541,718 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 28.
- Where is Nathan most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Nathan was most common in Delaware, at 6.3 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.