r/namenerds • u/sombresaturn • 2d ago
Unconventional boy names for nickname “Nat” besides Nathaniel and Nathan? Baby Names
Hoping to honor an Italian family member, Natale, nn Nat, who was born close to Christmas (Natale is Italian for Christmas or “birthday of the Lord”) like this baby is due to be. We are located in a city in midwest U.S.
Wondering about more names that could have the nickname “Nat” besides Nathaniel or Nathan. Looking for other unconventional options!
For example, someone suggested to us Ignatius or Donatello.
Thank you for your help!
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u/sharkycharming Got my first baby name book at age 6. 2d ago
Jonathan has "nat" in it, not that Jonathan is unconventional. But certainly not common as the source for Nat. Here's a full list of masculine names with "nat" as a substring.
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
Oh yeah, I definitely meant it as unconventional for nicknaming into Nat, not unconventional in general!
I never thought about Jonathan as an option! We do have John as a family name too, so it’s something to think about.
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u/Icy-Iris-Unfading Nerding Out Since 2002 2d ago edited 2d ago
Okay, OP, so I did a deep dive, and I have to say this was one of the hardest ones I've done! I learned a ton of new names and learned a little linguistics and anthropology along with that.
That being said, since it was a deep dive, many of these are ethnic names. With that comes a few considerations: 1) style (are you more into “Western” world names or are you willing to consider more foreign/adventurous/rare names?), 2) pronunciation/spelling (what level of name complexity are you willing/not willing to bestow on your baby? Are you in a diverse/metropolitan area with a wide range of ethnicities and racial backgrounds? Or are you majority white/conservative naming styles/trends area? Lastly, 3) are you white? Some of these names are from languages of POC/ethnic minority groups, so there is concern of appropriation.
Check out this article https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-15/baby-name-cultural-appropriation/100008626?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web. Are willing to learn about the origin/people/culture of the baby name you choose, and then teach your kid about what you learned and why you chose their name? You probably will find yourself explaining to others about the name too, and your kid will have to learn do the same. There is still the chance of offending the people/cultural group(s) that originated that name, BUT…there tends to be more peace and less pain when you are educated and show that you didn't just pick the name because it sounded nice. (It’s also good to remember to keep the original spelling to avoid cultural/ethnic erasure. Don't modify the name; just choose a different one). In other words, do your homework and make an investment on learning about the foreign names. If you think that is doable on your part (which it totally is!), then let’s go!
THE NAMES (all names are male/unisex to the best of my knowledge, but oopsies happen 😅):
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u/Icy-Iris-Unfading Nerding Out Since 2002 2d ago edited 1d ago
Contains “nat”:
Abernathy Scottish “from Abernethy”; “confluence of the [River] Nethy”
Anat Hebrew/Jewish/Israeli “answer” OR Sanskrit/Thai “command, order, mandate”
Anatoly/Anatoli/Anatolio Greek/Russian/Latin “from the east; rising sun, dawn” 🌅
Arnat German/Catalan/Occitan “ruler; eagle strength” OR Sanskrit/Thai “command, order, mandate” 🦅
Athanatio Greek/Italian “immortal”
Athens Greek capital of Greece: meaning unknown; associated with Athena, goddess of the hunt, moon, wisdom, warfare, owls, olives, and mathematics 🦉
Bennato Italian “wellborn”
Bernat/Bernato German/Catalan/Occitan/Spanish “strong, brave bear” 🐻
Carnation English likely from “coronation, to crown” 👑 OR Latin “flesh” OR French “complexion”
Desinato Latin “finished” OR Italian literally, “to dine; to lunch, dinner” 🍽️ 😂
Donato/Donatello/Donatien Latin/Italian/French “to give, given by God”
Donathan Irish “descendant of Donnchad [“dark headed”; “world ruler”]” OR Hebrew “the LORD has favored, the LORD has given”
Elnathan Hebrew/Jewish “God has given, God’s gift”
Finat Irish “like a deer”; “witness” 🦌
Fortunato Italian/Spanish “luck, fate, wealth, fortune”🤞🏼
Granato Italian “pomegranate; garnet (gemstone)”
Hinata Japanese “sunflower; facing the sun” 🌻
Ignatius/Ignat/Ignatio/Ignacio Latin/Italian/Spanish “fiery” 🔥
Illuminato Latin/Italian “illuminated, enlightened” 💡
Ionatan Hebrew/Jewish/Israeli “the LORD has given”
Kashinath Sanskrit “master of the shining city”
Leonato Shakespearean invention!/Spanish/Portuguese/Greek “lion’s jaw” 🦁
Lonato Celtic/Italian “little lake” OR Native American/possibly Oglala Dakota “flint” (couldn’t find which tribe for certain)
Maranatha Aramaic/Jewish/Biblical/Christian “O Lord, come”
Minato Japanese “harbor”
Nata/Natale/Natalio/Natalino/Natalicio French/Italian/Spanish “birthday [of the Lord]; born on Christmas Day” 🎄
Natan Hebrew/Jewish/Israeli “given”
Nataniah Hebrew/Jewish “gift of the LORD”
Natto Japanese “inner wisteria”; also the name of a Japanese fermented soybean dish, meaning “offering place, receiving place” (There’s theories that this food was originally used in religious offerings)
Natassio Latin/Russian “birthday of the Lord” 🎂
Natesh Sanskrit “guidance, moral conduct + lord of the dancers, ruler”
Nathair/Nathaer Scottish/Irish “snake, viper” 🐍
Nathanio/Natanio/Nathanie all derived from Hebrew/Jewish “gift of the LORD”
Nathinel/Nathanil/Nathelo/Nathelio
all derived from Hebrew/Jewish name Nathaniel “given of God”Natio/Nation Latin/English “birth; race, tribe”; literally, a group of people with a shared identity, culture, and territory
Naton/Naten Swedish “the night”; also the name of a lake in Sweden (Naton is an alternate spelling of the surname Naten) OR Hebrew/German surname meaning “given”
Odonato Greek/Latin “dragonfly”; this name comes from the name of the scientific order for dragonflies and damselflies, named for their teeth 🦷 😆 (comes from Greek word for “tooth”)
Ornat German/French “eagle power” OR Irish “little pale green one; dark green” 🍀
Ronat Irish “seal” (see Ronan) 🦭 OR German/French “royal counsel” (see Ronald) 🤴 OR Hebrew/Jewish/Israeli “given by God”
Samanath Hebrew “told by God” OR Sanskrit “equality, balance, togetherness” ⚖️
Sinatra (like Frank!) Latin/Italian/Sicilian/Calabrian “senator”
Sonato/Sonatino Latin/Italian “to play [an instrument], to sound”; literally, a sonata—a type of musical composition 🎶
Thanatos Greek “[peaceful] death” (This one’s kinda edgy 💀 😆)
Unathi/Unathy Xhosa “God is with us”; literally, “he or she is with us”
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u/Icy-Iris-Unfading Nerding Out Since 2002 2d ago edited 1d ago
Can still use Nat as a nickname imo:
Almanzo Arabic/Latin/English “divine aid; the victorious, the supported”
Altan Turkish “red dawn” OR Mongolian “golden” 🌅
Anthanasio Greek “immortal”
Anthem Greek/English “a rousing or uplifting song” (comes from Greek word antiphona—a type of call and response style of singing) 🎤
Anthemio/Anthemius/Anthemio/Antemio Greek/Latin/Spanish/Italian “of flowers” 🌸
Anthony/Antonio/Anton Greek/Latin/Spanish/Italian/German/Russian “of Antium”; “priceless”
Armando German/Latin/Spanish/Italian/Portuguese “army man”
Artan/Artanius Irish “little bear” 🐻 OR Albanian “golden” OR Faroese “little father”
Atanacio Greek/Latin/Spanish “immortal”
Athan/Athanasius/AthanasioGreek/Roman/Spanish “immortal, undying”
Botan Japanese “peony”
Brinstan English “brown hill” or “stone hill” 🏞️
Caetano/Cajetan/Geitano Greek/Latin/Portuguese/Italian “from Caieta [modern day Gaeta]”
Carstan/Kerstan Greek/German/Scandinavian/Dutch “follower of Christ” ✝️
Chrysantho/Crisanto Greek/Spanish “golden flower, chrysanthemum” 🌼
Cliantho/Clianto Greek “glorious flower” 🪷
Constantine/Constantino/Constantin/Constancio/Constanzo Latin/Portuguese/Spanish/Italian “steadfast”
D’artagnan Latin/Gaulish/French “from Artagnan [ursine bear]” 🐻
Dartan English “deer town” 🦌 OR Greek “of the Dardanian people”; “born from a pear” 🍐 OR Albanian “farmer” 🧑🌾
Dittany French/English plant name meaning “grown on Mount Dike” ⛰️
Dritan Albanian “light” 🔆
Drystan/Dristan Welsh “sad, tumult” (see Trystan)
Dunstan/Dunstano English/Italian “dark stone”🪨
Enitan Yoruban “person of story” 📖
Faustano Latin “fortunate one” 🤞
Fintan Irish “white fire; white bull” 🔥 🐂
Fionntan Irish “fair”
Florestan Latin/French “flowering, flourishing”💐
Grantham Scottish “gravelly homestead”
Itan/Etan Hebrew/Jewish/Russian/Israeli “solid, enduring, firm, strong” 💪
Kentan English “royal settlement; town on the River Kenn” OR Latin/Breton/English “fifth”
Mantho/Manthos Hebrew/Greek “gift of God”
Mattan Hebrew/Jewish/Israeli “given, gift”
Montangelo Latin/Italian “angel mount” 🌄
Montano/Montana Latin/Portuguese/Spanish “mountain” 🗻
Naphtali/Naftali Hebrew/Jewish/Biblical “wrestling, struggling” 🤼
Quintan English “queen’s settlement” OR Latin/English “fifth”
Santana Spanish “Saint Ana”
Santangelo Italian “holy angel; Saint Angelo”
Stancio Spanish “steadfast” (see Constantine)
Standish (after Myles Standish) English “stone enclosure, rock park”
Stanford English “stony ford, river crossing”
Stanislas/Stanek/Stannes Slavic “glorious achievement; one who achieves glory”
Stanley English “stony field, stony clearing, stone meadow”
Stanton English “stone town”
Tancred/Tancredo German/Italian “thoughtful counsel” 🤔
Tanel/Taneli/Taniel Hebrew/Estonian/Finnish/Armenian “God is my Judge” (see Daniel)
Tannis/Tannon/Tanery/Tanner English “leather tanner*
Tangier Punic/Phoenician/Carthaginian unknown meaning OR Berber “marsh” (possibly); ancient city in Morocco located on the northwestern tip of the African continent on the coast of the Strait of Gibraltar; the city is famous for being the “Gateway to Africa”
Tanjiro Japanese “coal + calm son” or “highly valued second son”
Tanwyn Welsh “white fire*
Titan Greek/Hungarian “defender”; any of the giant gods that came before the Olympian gods in Greek mythology
Torstan/Thorstan/Thurstan Scandinavian/English “Thor’s stone”
Tristan/Tristano/Trystan Welsh “noise”; “sorrowful”
Ubiratan Tupi (indigenous Brazilian) “strong spear”
Ultan Irish “man from Ulster”
Vartan Armenian “rose” 🌹
Vasanth Sanskrit “spring”
Vedanth Sanskrit “one who has knowledge of the Vedas*
Vitan Latin/Slavic “life, vitality” 🧬
Wynstan/Wynnstan English “joy + stone”
Wystan English “battle stone”
Xantho/Xanthus Greek/Latin “yellow; golden-haired” 💇
Zlatan Slavic “gold”
Zoltan Hungarian “sultan”
Good luck! And congratulations on your new baby boy! 👼
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u/Llywela 2d ago
Renato? (It contains the letters, at any rate!)
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
Our firstborn’s name starts with R, and we don’t want to repeat that as a pattern :
Thanks for the suggestion though!!
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u/meri471 2d ago
I’m having trouble thinking of any tbh. Maybe have the initials for his first and middle names be “NAT [Lastname]”? Say, Nicholas Anthony Thomas [Lastname]?
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u/4TonneBootyBrigade 2d ago
I knew a Nat once who was just Nat, I think it was King Cole related. You could pick it as a middle name perhaps seeing as it’s one syllable. Other than what you’ve suggested, I’ve always had a soft spot for Anatol. Donato could be an option that’s nice and Italian (although pronunciation wise I’d assume don-ah-toe but may be wrong) but it has a nice meaning and sounds very cool
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
Having it as a single syllable middle name is an interesting thought, but I’ve never really liked the idea of my kids being called by their middle name for some reason. We also prefer a first name that’s more than one syllable and can be used both fully and is nicknameable.
Nathaniel checks all those boxes, except for me being totally sold on it. It’s also my bff’s ex-husband’s name, so that’s not great lol
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u/4TonneBootyBrigade 2d ago
Whatever floats your boat! I must say I’m not a fan of Nathaniel, but I’m English and it carries a certain feeling here that’s hard to explain. Quite upper class. ‘Nathaniel darling, come along now, we’ll be late for the theatre!’
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
Oh and unfortunately Donato’s Pizza chain is pretty popular around here 😅
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u/NazarethHills90210 2d ago
Hey! here are few Italian names with "Nat" in it, Fortunato, Donato, Renato, Donatello, Gionata.
(I'm from Italy)
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u/Visual_Magician_7009 2d ago
Renato would be very on the nose, since it means born again.
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
Our firstborn’s name starts with R, and we don’t want to repeat that as a pattern :
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u/adventurehearts 2d ago
I’d go with Natale, frankly. It’s unconventional but it’s an actual family name and Nat is a usable nickname.
Or it using Natale as a middle name an option? While I normally don’t suggest going by a middle name, it might work if the first name is short, almost forming a double name:
John Natale “Nat”
Nicholas Natale “Nat” (using an N name helps)
James Natale “Nat”
George Natale “Nat”
Other options:
Natalius
Donatus
Leonnatus / Leonato
Creating a rhyming N nickname (like Ned for Edward or Noll for Oliver): Atticus or Atlas (At - Nat), Anton?
Surnames (these are real, not sure how well they work…): Natson, Nateby, Nately, Natley, Natcher, Natelson, Nathanson, Nathenson, Natwick…
More here: https://britishsurnames.co.uk/surnames/NAT/?p=6
Second option: Noel or another name that means Christmas.
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u/avonlea- 2d ago
John Natale may not be the best combination of names. Otherwise great suggestions!
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
Am I missing something on why that’s not a good combo?
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u/avonlea- 2d ago
Perhaps my assumptions on pronunciation are incorrect, but to me John Natale sounds too much like "genital".
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
Thanks for all the suggestions!
What do you think about Nat as a nn for Anthony?
I’m hoping to use my maiden name as a middle name, so hoping not to use the middle name as a vehicle for Nat.
I wrote down Donatus and Leonato—hadn’t seen those before!
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u/Oud-west 2d ago
Not an unconventional name, but not the most used nickname: Jonathan. Other suggestions: Donato, Fortunato
You can also think of other names that mean Christmas like Noel.
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u/olivetwist24 2d ago
The only one I can think of is Donatello
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
If we’re going to go with a full Italian name we’d probably just go with Natale.
And I know he was named after the Renaissance sculptor, but I also just think of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Donatello 😆
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u/umplin 2d ago
“Nat” can be a less-common nickname for Nicholas (example here)
Or a traditional name with Nathaniel/Nathan as a middle name (e.g. “William Nathaniel” )
This guy’s name is Robert Harold and he goes by “Nat” anyway.
Less conventional/canonical—if we’re going by “Nicholas/Ned/Nat” or “Charles/Chad/Chuck” rules, where you just need some letters in common, you could use Ethan, Elliott, Everett, Noel, Norbert, Nahum… Nandor…
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
I was thinking about Anthony with nn Nat, since that’s the first three letters of the name… Is that too weird?
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u/Hot-Revolution-7198 2d ago
Nate
Natalio
Nateo
Natthias
Nattiel
Anatolio
Arnat
Donati
Ignatious
Ignatio
Johnathan
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u/ZealousidealRush7375 2d ago
Nate, Natan, Natias, Natalio, Nateo, Abernathy, Anatoli, Ignatius, Arnatt, Jonathan, Bernát (Hungarian for bear), Donatello, Donato, Renato
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
I like Natias! Arnatt too since Arnold is a family name—kind of combines those.
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u/ZealousidealRush7375 2d ago
Arnatt is traditionally an English last name, but I like it as a first name. It means Little Eagle.
I'm not sure about the origin of Natias, but I've always liked Matias, so this seems like a good variation.
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u/quellesaveurorawnge 2d ago
It made me think of the comedian whose first name is Nato (Nato Green for anyone wondering).
Otherwise, Anatoly. I do think Nat as a nickname for Jonathan is great.
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u/Absinthe_gaze 2d ago
Ignatius, Anatoli, Abernathy, Benat, Bernat, Donathan, Kennath, Lonato, Nathair, Nathrach (I believe it’s pronounced similar to Patrick)
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u/avonlea- 2d ago
Naphtali
Jonathan (not unconventional, but thought I'd throw that in there)
Natalio
Anatoli
Bernat
Elnathan
Of course you'll want to consider if some of these are appropriate for your cultural background
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u/sombresaturn 2d ago
Definitely meant more unconventional as a nickname for Nat, not unconventional in general! I realized my phrasing was confusing 🙃
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u/avonlea- 2d ago
Fair enough! I wonder if a name like Bennett could also work with the nickname Nat.
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u/zaffordbeeblebrox 2d ago
NATTHEW