Elnathan
Hebrew name meaning "God has given" or "God's gift".
Name Census estimates that about 377 living Americans carry the first name Elnathan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Elnathan today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elnathan births was 2013 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elnathan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Elnathan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
377
~ 1 in 909,163 Americans
Peak year
2013
40 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,242
Tracked since 1926
Popularity
Elnathan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elnathan from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 277 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elnathan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Elnathan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Elnathans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Virginia, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Elnathan, while Washington, Texas, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elnathan
Elnathan is a Hebrew name with biblical origins, derived from the elements "El" meaning "God" and "nathan" meaning "given." This combination translates to "God has given" or "gift of God." The name first appears in the Old Testament, specifically in the Book of Ezra, as the name of one of the men who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon after the Babylonian exile in the 5th century BCE.
The name Elnathan is also mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah, referring to a different individual who was one of the princes of Judah during the reign of King Jehoiakim in the 7th century BCE. This Elnathan is recorded as having tried to prevent the burning of the scroll containing Jeremiah's prophecies, suggesting that he may have been sympathetic to the prophet's message.
One of the earliest recorded examples of an individual bearing the name Elnathan is found in the Elephantine Papyri, a collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts from the 5th century BCE discovered on the island of Elephantine in Egypt. These papyri mention an Elnathan who was a member of the Jewish community living in Elephantine at that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Elnathan. In the 16th century, Elnathan Parr (1516-1632) was an English centenarian who reportedly lived to the age of 116 years. Another Elnathan, Elnathan Whitman (1623-1688), was a founder of the town of Farmington, Connecticut, and served as a deputy to the General Court of Connecticut in the 17th century.
In the 18th century, Elnathan Kempton (1770-1840) was a delegate from New York to the 16th United States Congress, serving from 1819 to 1821. Elnathan Sweet (1782-1842) was a prominent American lawyer and politician from New York, who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1823 to 1825.
More recently, Elnathan John (born 1982) is a contemporary Nigerian writer and satirist, known for his works exploring social and political issues in Nigeria. His novel "Born on a Tuesday" was published in 2015 and received critical acclaim.
People
Elnathan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elnathan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Elnathan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elnathan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 377 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elnathan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 909,163 US residents.
Is Elnathan a common name?
We classify Elnathan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 385 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elnathan most popular?
The single biggest year for Elnathan was 2013, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elnathan is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Elnathan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elnathan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elnathan in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Elnathan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elnathan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Elnathan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Elnathan?
You can see how many people have the name Elnathan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.