Jonathan (name)

Jonathan
Gender Male
Name day France: 1 March,
America: 26 April,
Sweden: 22 December,
Germany: 29 December
Origin
Word/name Hebrew (Israel)
Meaning God has given
Other names
Nickname(s) Jon, Jon Jon, Jonny, Johnny, Jona, Jonty
Related names Jon, Nathan
Look up Jonathan, Jonathon, Jonty, or jono in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Jonathan (Hebrew: יְהוֹנָתָן/יוֹנָתָן, Standard Yonatan / Yəhonatan Tiberian Yônāṯān / Jonathan 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. The name's origin, Yonatan, is a popular masculine Israeli name, appearing in the Hebrew Bible.

Variants of Jonathan include Johnatan, Jonathon, Johnathan, Jonothon, Jonothan, Johnathen, Johnathon and Jhonathan. Biblical variants include Yehonathan, Y'honathan, Yhonathan, Yonathan, 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 31st most popular boys' name in the United States in 2011, according to the SSA.[4]

Nicknames include Jon, Jono, Jona. In the past, Jo and Jonty were common diminutives of Jonathan in the United Kingdom but this is much rarer now.

John is commonly mistaken as a short form for Jonathan. Names with similar meanings include Theodore in Greek and Bogdan/Bozhidar in Slavonic.

List of alternatives

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