Nathan

Na·than
N1A1T1H4A1N1
/ˈneɪθən/

proper noun

An Old Testament prophet who advised King David.

CommonScrabble 9

Meanings

Nathan1

proper nounNathan (countable and uncountable, plural Nathans)

plural Nathans

  1. countableuncountablebiblicalAn Old Testament prophet who advised King David.

    And Dauids anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liueth, the man that hath done this thing, shall surely die. And he shall restore the Lambe fourefold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pittie. And Nathan said to Dauid, Thou art the man: […]

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Samuel 12:5–7
  2. countableuncountableThe fourth son of King David and father of Mattatha

    the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Samuel 5:14
  3. countableuncountableA male given name from Hebrew, of Biblical origin.

    Near the end of Sasquatch Sunset, the gloriously weird feature from David and Nathan Zellner, Riley Keough wordlessly conveys a slowly creeping moment of profound existential despair that crushes your heart with its bleakness.

    2024 June 16, Wendy Ide, “Sasquatch Sunset review – brilliant bigfoot oddity is unexpectedly moving”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
    2 more examples

    I used to envy my brother his name, and recall once accusing my mother of having favored him, else why did she name me Nathan and him Philip, tell me that, ma, tell me that. He had king Philip and if day-dreaming that association wasn't pleasure enough, there was the then movie star, Phillips Holmes. All I had was Nathan Hale. Admittedly, Nathan Hale would have been fine — except among our schoolyard ditties was the couplet: Nathan Hale, / Nathan Hale, / He shit in a pail, / Shit in a pail. Being a Nathan was sometimes trying.

    1972, Nate Perlmutter, A Bias of Reflections: Confessions of an Incipient Old Jew, Arlington House, →ISBN, page 27

    He was so proud he'd had a son. He talked me into naming him Nathan saying he had always loved that name. I was surprised to see when I looked it up in a name book it meant gift from God. And yes that was a very appropriate name.

    2007, Rose Lamatt, Lifeline Online, →ISBN, page 128
  4. countableuncountableAn English surname originating as a patronymic.
  5. countableuncountableAn Ashkenazi surname from Hebrew [in turn originating as a patronymic], a variant of Natan.
  6. countableuncountableA suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; named for Matthew Nathan, 13th Governor of Queensland.

Nathan2

nounNathan (plural Nathans)

plural Nathans

  1. derogatoryslangdancingA white hip-hop fan, especially one who listens to white rappers and looks down on mumble rap.

    Nathans are infinitely worse than mumble/trap fans

    2022 February 28, u/uselessrart, “Mummble acceptance in dhh.”, in Reddit, r/IndianHipHopHeads, archived from the original on 30 Sep 2023
    2 more examples

    A Nathan is a stereotype who usually listens to white rappers like Eminem,logic and NF, and hates new rap

    2019 November 25, u/Szillar, “Mumble rappers be like:”, in Reddit, r/dankmemes, archived from the original on 30 Sep 2023

    it would be nice if the new fans would go away or at least change who they are completely. i love seeing bladee & company win but these 100 gec ass nathans are like locusts going from one artist's chronically online fanbase to the next. sematary went down quick lol. once fantano reviewed rb3 it was over

    2022 December 19, “Hiphop 10 years from now?”, in Reddit, r/hiphopheads, archived from the original on 30 Sep 2023

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

Nathan · proper noun

  1. Hebrewנָתָן“gave”
  2. EnglishNathan

From Hebrew נָתָן (natán, “gave”). Also short for Jonathan.

Full word history & related roots →

Nathan · noun

From a 2014 meme which suggested that white people should replace the word nigga in rap songs with Nathan. The present meaning of the term dates from around 2017.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 拿單 /拿单, 納堂 /纳堂
  • 拿單 /拿单 (Nádān)biblical prophet
  • 納堂 /纳堂 (Nàtáng)biblical prophet
  • 內森 /内森 (Nèisēn)male given name
Danish Nathan
  • Nathanmale given name
Dutch Nathan
  • Nathanmale given name
Finnish Naatan, Natan
  • Naatanbiblical prophet
  • Natanbiblical prophet
  • Naatanmale given name
French Nathan, Nathan
  • Nathanbiblical prophet
  • Nathanmale given name
German Natan, Nathan
  • Natanbiblical prophet
  • Nathanmale given name
  • Natanmale given name
Greek Νάθαν, Νέιθαν
  • Νάθαν (Náthan)biblical prophet
  • Νέιθαν (Néithan)male given name
Hebrew נָתָן, נָתָן
  • נָתָן (natán)biblical prophet
  • נָתָן (natán)male given name
Hindi नातान
  • नातान (nātān)biblical prophet
Hungarian Nátán
  • Nátánmale given name
Italian Nathan
  • Nathanmale given name
Japanese ネーサン
  • ネーサン (Nēsan)male given name
Latin Nāthan, Nathan
  • Nāthanbiblical prophet
  • Nathanmale given name
Malay Natan
  • Natanbiblical prophet
Māori Nātana
  • Nātanamale given name
Norwegian Nathan
  • Nathanmale given name
Polish Natan, Natan
  • Natanbiblical prophet
  • Natanmale given name
Portuguese Natã, Natã
  • Natãbiblical prophet
  • Natãmale given name
  • Natanmale given name
Russian Ната́н, На́тан
  • Ната́н (Natán)biblical prophet
  • На́тан (Nátan)male given name
Spanish Natán, Natán
  • Natánbiblical prophet
  • Natánmale given name
  • Natanmale given name
Swedish Nathan
  • Nathanmale given name
Yiddish נתן, נתן
  • נתן (nosn)biblical prophet
  • נתן (nosn)male given name

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Nathan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Nathan

MLA

“Nathan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Nathan. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Nathan,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Nathan.

Source: Nathan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.