Jonathan (name)

Jonathan
Gender Male
Name day France: 1 March,
America: 26 April,
Sweden: 22 December,
Germany: 29 December
Origin
Word/Name Hebrew
Meaning "'God's Gift
Other names
Related names Jon

Jonathan (in Hebrew: יְהוֹנָתָן/יוֹנָתָן‎‎, Standard Yonatan / Yəhonatan Tiberian Yônāṯān / Yəhônāṯān) is a common masculine given name meaning "YHWH has given" in Hebrew.[1][2] The first known Jonathan was a son of King Saul in the Hebrew Bible, a close friend of David.

Alternative spellings of Jonathan include Johnatan, Jonathon, Johnathan, Jonatan, Jonothon, Jonothan, Johnathon, Johnthan, and Yonatan (a common name in Hebrew). Biblical variants include Yehonathan, Y'honathan, Yhonathan, Yonatan, Yonaton, Yonoson, Yeonoson or Yehonasan. In Israel, "Yoni" is a common nickname for Yonatan (Jonathan) in the same way Jonny is for Jonathan in English.[3]

The name was the 30th most popular boys' name in the United States in 2009, according to the Social Security Administration.[4]

Nicknames include Jon, Jonty, Jonny, Jack, Nathan, Johnny, Jono, Jonjon, and Jonny-Boy.

Etymologically, Jonathan is not a variation of John. Names with similar meanings include Theodore in Greek and Bogdan/Bozhidar in Slavonic.

References

  1. ^ MFnames.com - Origin and Meaning of Jonathan
  2. ^ Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, Oxford Dictionary of First Names, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, p.147.
  3. ^ The Crosslinguistic Study of Language Acquisition - Page 342 by Dan Isaac Slobin
  4. ^ Popular Baby Names, Social Security Online

See also