Natale
Italian name referring to the Christmas holiday or Christ's birth.
Name Census estimates that about 802 living Americans carry the first name Natale. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Natale today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Natale births was 1915 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Natale. 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.
Key insights
- • Natale started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
802
~ 1 in 427,374 Americans
Peak year
1915
39 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2014 SSA rank
#13,433
Tracked since 1906
Census
Natale in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,435 people with the first name Natale, which placed it at #9,609 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,609
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,435 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Natale
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Natale is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.9%) and Black (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Natale described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Natale at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.2% · 1,122
- Hispanic or Latino13.9% · 200
- Black or African American4.2% · 60
- Two or more races2.2% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Natale
Natale is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,523 total registrations, 1,152 (75.6%) were male and 371 (24.4%) were female.
Natale as a male name
- Ranked #13,433 in 2014
- 5 male births in 2014
- Peak: 1915 (39 births)
Natale as a female name
- Ranked #18,442 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1984 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Natale on both sides of the split. Of the 1,443 people counted with this name, 762 were male (52.8%) and 681 were female (47.2%).
Popularity
Natale: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Natale from the 1900s through to the 2010s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 271 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Natale 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 Natale during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Natales live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Natale, while New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 96 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Natale
The given name Natale originates from the Latin word "natalis", which means "relating to birth" or "birthday". This name has its roots in ancient Roman culture, where it was likely used as a reference to the birth of Christ or the celebration of Christmas, known as the "Natalis Domini" or "Birthday of the Lord".
During the early Christian era, the name Natale was commonly used in regions with strong Roman and Catholic influence, such as Italy, Spain, and other parts of Europe. It was often associated with individuals born around the Christmas season or those celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Natale can be found in the writings of St. Ambrose, a 4th-century bishop of Milan, who mentioned a man named Natale in his letters. Additionally, the name appears in various medieval church records and historical documents from Italy and other parts of Europe.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Natale. One such person was Natale Conti (1520-1582), an Italian mathematician and physician who made significant contributions to the study of geometry and algebra. Another was Natale Schiavoni (1777-1858), an Italian painter and engraver known for his works depicting religious and mythological themes.
In the realm of literature, Natale Gasparo (1808-1874) was an Italian poet and writer who authored several works celebrating the beauty of his native Venetian region. Natale Monferrato (1862-1932), on the other hand, was an Italian politician and journalist who served as a member of the Italian parliament.
Lastly, Natale Palli (1895-1919) was an Italian soldier and war hero who fought bravely during World War I and was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor, Italy's highest military honor.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Natale, which has its roots in the Latin language and is deeply intertwined with the religious and cultural traditions of ancient Rome and early Christianity.
People
Natale + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Natale as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Natale: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Natale?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 802 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Natale 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 427,374 US residents.
Is Natale a common name?
We classify Natale as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,523 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Natale most popular?
The single biggest year for Natale was 1915, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Natale is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Natale in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,435 people with the name Natale, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,609 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Natale in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Natale?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Natale on both sides of the split. Of the 1,443 people counted with this name, 762 were male (52.8%) and 681 were female (47.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Natale?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Natale is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.9%) and Black (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Natale most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Natale in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.2% (1,122 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Natale in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Natale a male name?
Yes, 75.6% of people registered as Natale 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 Natale still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Natale 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 Natale 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.
How many people share the name Natale?
Find out how many Americans are named Natale on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.