Natalie
Meaning
"birthday," from natale domini, "the day of the Lord's birth"; first given to girls born at Christmas, it traveled from Russia's Natalia through France to the English-speaking world. A holiday name that long ago outgrew the holiday
Goes by Nat
The story
Natalie descends from the Latin natale domini, the day of the Lord's birth, and began as a name for girls born at Christmas. It took a long road to America: Natalia flourished in Russia, France smoothed it into Natalie, and Russian immigrant families carried it across the ocean. One of those families raised a child star, Natalia Zakharenko, who became Natalie Wood, and it is hard not to notice that the name's long American climb got underway during the very decades her films filled theaters. The rise never really stopped: from a modest floor in the early twentieth century, Natalie moved up decade over decade to a peak in the 2000s and 2010s, and it has barely softened since. The Christmas connection has faded into trivia, which may be the nicest outcome: a December name that now belongs to every month of the year.
Natalie around the world
One shared root links 7 names across 4 languages.
Shared root: from Latin natale domini "the Lord's birthday", a name for girls born at Christmas
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Natalie peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
6,959 people · the #2,179 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 29,412 · median age 23
Among people named Natalie living in Brazil at the 2022 census, roughly as many were born in the 1990s as in the 2000s, more than in any other decade.
The census also counted 358 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Natalie
Most people given the name Natalie in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Natalie deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Natalie truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Natalie fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Natalie · Nicknames for Natalie · Middle names for Natalie
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