Natania
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 696 living Americans carry the first name Natania. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Natania today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Natania births was 2004 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Natania. 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 Natania with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
696
~ 1 in 492,463 Americans
Peak year
2004
36 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,775
Tracked since 1973
Census
Natania in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 664 people with the first name Natania, which placed it at #16,834 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
#16,834
National first-name rank
People counted
664
664 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
31.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Natania
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Natania is Black at 31.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.2%) and White (20.5%). 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 Natania 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 Natania at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American31.9% · 212
- Hispanic or Latino31.2% · 207
- White20.5% · 136
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.7% · 71
- Two or more races4.7% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 7
Popularity
Natania: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Natania from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 256 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Natania 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 Natania during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Natanias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Florida, New York recorded the most babies named Natania, while Texas, New York, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Natania
The name Natania has its origins in the Hebrew language and Jewish culture, with roots that can be traced back several centuries. It is believed to be a feminine variation of the biblical name Nathaniel, which means "gift of God" in Hebrew.
Natania likely emerged as a distinct name during the Middle Ages, when the practice of creating feminine forms of traditionally masculine names became more common. The addition of the "-ia" suffix was a common way to feminize Hebrew names during this time period.
While there are no definitive records of the name's earliest use, it is possible that Natania was first adopted by Jewish communities in the Middle East and Europe as a way to honor the biblical figure of Nathaniel while also distinguishing it as a feminine name.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Natania was a 13th-century Jewish scholar and poet from Spain, Natania ben al-Muʿallim. She was renowned for her contributions to the study of Hebrew poetry and literature.
Another notable figure with the name Natania was Natania Lourie, a Russian-born American painter who lived from 1905 to 1997. Lourie was a prominent figure in the New York art scene and is celebrated for her vibrant and expressive works.
In the realm of literature, Natania Remba was a Polish-born writer and translator who lived from 1911 to 1997. She is best known for her translations of Yiddish literature into English, helping to preserve and promote this rich cultural heritage.
Natania Ginzburg, an Italian novelist and playwright born in 1916, was another prominent figure with this name. Her works, which often explored themes of family, relationships, and the complexities of human nature, earned her critical acclaim and numerous literary awards.
Lastly, Natania Kanem, a Kenyan diplomat and the current Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is a contemporary bearer of the name. Born in 1957, Kanem has dedicated her career to advancing global development and promoting reproductive health and rights.
People
Natania + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Natania 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
Natania: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Natania?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 696 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Natania 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 492,463 US residents.
Is Natania a common name?
We classify Natania as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 708 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Natania most popular?
The single biggest year for Natania was 2004, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Natania is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Natania in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 664 people with the name Natania, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,834 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 Natania 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 Natania?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Natania leans strongly female. 651 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 11 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Natania?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Natania is Black at 31.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.2%) and White (20.5%). 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 Natania most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Natania in the 2020 Census, accounting for 31.9% (212 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 Natania in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Natania a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Natania in the SSA data are female. 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 Natania still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Natania 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 Natania 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 have Natania as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.