Nathaniel is the English form of the Hebrew Netanel and means "God has given" or "gift of God". In the New Testament Nathanael is one of the apostles, often identified with Bartholomew, and in American letters the name belongs to novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nathaniel ranked 61st in the United States in 2000, stayed in the top 100 through 2015 and has drifted to number 140 in 2025.