Jonathan (name)
- For other uses, see Jonathan (disambiguation). For the Israeli moshav, see Yonatan, Golan Heights.
- Not to be confused with John
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Hebrew |
| Meaning | Yahweh (God) has given |
| Other names | |
| Related names | Jon |
Jonathan (in Template:Lang-he-n, Standard Yonatan / Yəhonatan Tiberian Yônāṯān / Yəhônāṯān) is a common masculine given name meaning "Yahweh (God) has given", "gift of God" 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 Jonathon, Johnathan, Jonatan, Jonothon, Jonothan, Johnathon, 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 Johnny is for Jonathan in English.[3].
Nicknames include Jon, John, Jonn, Yoni, Yonny, Jonny, Jona, Jonnie, Jonty, and Jonno (all with spelling variations), as well as Jack, Jay, Jake, Jon Jon, and, less frequently, Nathan or Nate.
Etymologically, Jonathan is not a variation of John, but a longer version of Nathan. Names with similar meanings include Theodore in Greek and Bogdan/Bozhidar in Slavonic.
The name day for Jonathan is 1 March in France, 22 December in Sweden, and 29 December in Germany.
References
- ^ MFnames.com - Origin and Meaning of Jonathan
- ^ Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, Oxford Dictionary of First Names, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, p.147.
- ^ The Crosslinguistic Study of Language Acquisition - Page 342 by Dan Isaac Slobin