# Nathanael

Nathanael is a biblical given name derived from the Hebrew נְתַנְאֵל (Netan'el), which means "God/El has given" or "Gift of God/El." Nathaniel is the variant form of this name and it stands to this day as the usual and most common spelling for a masculine given name. Other variants include Nathanel, Netanel and Nathanial. A short form is Nate.
Several figures in the Bible bear forms of this name. In the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), the name is shared by a prince (or chieftain) of the Tribe of Issachar (Numbers 7:18–23, in the Naso parsha) and by a brother of King David (1 Chronicles 2:14). In the New Testament, Nathanael is said to be an early follower of Jesus of Nazareth, according to the Gospel of John (1:45; 21:2).
The related name Elnathan could be rendered "Gift of El" (Hebrew God). Four people named Elnathan are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: one at 2 Kings 24:8, and three in Ezra 8:15–20. A similar ancient name with the same meaning as Elnathan, is Jonathan which signifies "YHWH has given".

## In the Bible

* Nathanael (follower of Jesus) in the Gospel of John

## Notable people with this name
### A

* Nate Ackerman (born 1978), a British-American mathematician and wrestler

### B

* Nathanael Ball (1623–1681), an English clergyman, assistant to Brian Walton in his London Polyglot Bible
* Nate Bargatze (born 1979), an American comedian and actor
* Nathanael Barnes (born 1987), an Australian rugby league footballer
* Nathanael Burwash (1839–1918), a Canadian methodist, minister and university administrator

### C

* Nathanael Carpenter (1589 – c. 1628), an English author, philosopher, and geographer
* Nathanael Chalmers (1830–1910), a New Zealand pastoralist, explorer, politician, planter, sugar miller and magistrate

### D

* Nathanael Diesel (1692–1745), a Danish composer

### E

* Nathanael Emmons (1745–1840), an American congregational minister

### F

* Nathanael Fouquet (born 1972), a French slalom canoeist

### G

* Nathanael Gray, a professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard Medical School
* Nathanael Greene (1742–1786), Major General of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War
* August Nathanael Grischow (1726–1760), a German mathematician and astronomer

### H

* Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (1848–1938), American naval architect

### J

* Nathanael Jones (c. 1624 – 1683), a Welsh gentleman-poet

### L

* Nathanael Gottfried Leske (1751–1786), a German scientist and geologist
* Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn (1711–1756), a German Physician
* Nathanael Liminski (born 1985), a German politician

### M

* Nathanael Matthaeus von Wolf (1724–1784), a German botanist, physician and astronomer
* Nathanael Mbourou (born 1996), a Gabonese professional footballer

### N

* Nat Neujean (1923–2018), a Belgian sculptor

### O

* Nate Oats (born 1974), an American basketball coach
* Nathanael Ogbeta (born 2001), an English footballer
* Nathanael of Ohrid (1820–1906), a Bulgarian cleric, writer and revolutionary from Macedonia
* Nathanael Orr (1917–2016), an Australian politician

### P

* Nathanael G. Pendleton (1793–1861), an American politician
* Nathanael Pringsheim (1823–1894), a German botanist

### R

* Nathan Ralph (born 1993), an English footballer
* Nathanael Richards (1630–1654), an English dramatist

### S

* Nate Saint (1923–1956), an evangelical Christian missionary pilot
* Nathanael Saleh (born 2006), an English actor
* Nathanael Salmon (1675–1742), an English antiquary
* Nathanaël (born Nathalie Stephens, 1970), Canadian writer and translator

### V

* Nathanael Villanueva (born 1995), a Filipino footballer

### W

* Nathanael West (1903–1940), American writer
* Nathanael Wiseman, an entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Award-winning production company Redeeming Features

## People with the name Nathanial

* Nathanial Saltonstall (circa 1639–1707), American judge