Jonathan

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew יְהוֹנָתָן (iehonatán), יוֹנָתָן (ionatán, literally “God has given”), apparently with influence from Aramaic [Term?].

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɒnəθən/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɑnəθən/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Jon‧a‧than

Proper noun

Jonathan (countable and uncountable, plural Jonathans)

1. A son of Saul, first mentioned in 1 Samuel.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 18:1:
     :

     And it came to pass, when he had made an end to speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.

2. Jonathan Apphus, a son of Mattathias, brother of Joannan Caddis, Simon Thassi, Judas Maccabeus and Eleazar Avara.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Maccabees 9:19:

     Then Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother, and buried him in the sepulchre of his fathers in Modin.

3. A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
   • 1936 Frank O'Connor, In The Train. The Stories of Frank O’Connor, Knopf, 1952. page 166:

     “Well indeed,” said Foley, “’tis a mystery to me how the sergeant puts up with her. If any woman up and called me an outlandish name like Jonathan when everyone knew my name was plain John I’d do fourteen days for her - by God, I would, and a calendar month.”

   • 1998, Barbara Vine, The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy, →ISBN, page 168:

     So I’d change to names I really like. I mean, Jonathan. If I ever have a son I’m going to call him Jonathan, so I’d have that. And then I like monosyllabic surnames that aren’t too common, so I’d have Dean or Bell or King. There you are, how about Jonathan King?

4. A surname from Hebrew.

Related terms

• nonstandard spellings: Jonathon, Johnathan
• pet forms: Jon, Jonty, Jonny, Nathan

Translations

biblical character

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: Յովնաթան (Yovnatʻan), Հովնաթան (Hovnatʻan)
• Coptic: ⲓⲱⲛⲁⲑⲁⲛ (iōnathan)
• Danish: Jonatan
• Estonian: Joonatan
• Faroese: Jónatan m
• Finnish: Jonatan (fi)
• French: Jonathan (fr)
• German: Jonathan (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: Ἰωνάθαν (Iōnáthan), Ἰωνᾱ́θης m (Iōnā́thēs)

• Hebrew: יְהוֹנָתָן (he) (yhonatán)
• Italian: Gionata (it)
• Korean: 요나단 (Yonadan)
• Latin: Jonathan, Jonathas, Iōnāthās m
• Maore Comorian: Yonatani
• Maori: Honatana
• Norwegian: Jonatan
• Polish: Jonatan (pl) m
• Portuguese: Jónatas (pt) m (Portugal), Jônatas (pt) m (Brazil)
• Romanian: Ionatan m
• Russian: Ионафа́н m (Ionafán)
• Scottish Gaelic: Ianatan m
• Spanish: Jonatán (es)
• Swedish: Jonatan (sv)
• Yiddish: יונתן m (yoynesen)

male given name

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: Յովնաթան (Yovnatʻan), Հովնաթան (Hovnatʻan)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 喬納森／乔纳森 (zh) (Qiáonàsēn)

• Czech: Jonatán
• Danish: Jonathan
• Estonian: Joonatan
• Faroese: Jónatan m
• Finnish: Joonatan (fi)
• French: Jonathan (fr)
• German: Jonathan (de) m
• Greek: Τζόναθαν (el) (Tzónathan) (transliteration from English)

  Ancient: Ἰωνάθαν (Iōnáthan), Ἰωνᾱ́θης m (Iōnā́thēs)

• Hebrew: יְהוֹנָתָן (he) (yhonatán), יוֹנָתָן (he) (yonatán)
• Italian: Gionata (it)
• Latin: Iōnāthās m, Iōnāthān m
• Norwegian: Jonathan (no)
• Polish: Jonatan (pl) m
• Portuguese: Jónatas (pt) m (Portugal), Jônatas (pt) m (Brazil), Jonathan m
• Romanian: Ionatan m
• Russian: Джо́натан (ru) m (Džónatan) (transliteration)
• Scottish Gaelic: Ianatan m
• Spanish: Jonatán (es)
• Swedish: Jonatan (sv)
• Yiddish: יונתן m (yoynesen)

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Jonathan is the 39004^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 565 individuals. Jonathan is most common among White (41.95%), Asian/Pacific Islander (16.64%), Black/African American (15.75%) and Hispanic/Latino (10.27%) individuals.

Noun

Jonathan (plural Jonathans)

1. An apple cultivar from New York.
   • 2018 October 4, “4H column: Join the Great Lakes Apple Crunch”, in Chillicothe Gazette:

     For example, Jonathans are tart and great for baking.

2. (dated, slang) An American; a Yank; Brother Jonathan.
   • 1822, Lord Byron, The Vision of Judgement, stanza 59:

     Here crashed a sturdy oath of stout John Bull,
     Who damned away his eyes as heretofore;
     There Paddy brogued “By Jasus!”—“What’s your Wull?”
     The temperate Scot exclaimed; the French Ghost swore
     In certain terms I shan’t translate in full,
     As the first Coachman will; and midst the roar
     The voice of Jonathan was heard to express,
     “Our president is going to war, I guess.”—

   • 2014, Francis Hodge, Yankee Theatre: The Image of America on the Stage, 1825–1850:

     The best single source of comment on Marble's capacities as a low comedian, as with the other Yankees, is the record of his London reception. […] One viewer thought it was not as outrageous as Jonathans usually are, […]

Translations

apple cultivar

• Hebrew: יוֹנָתָן (he) (yonatán)
• Romanian: ionatan (ro) m

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Jonathan”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 254.

Danish

Proper noun

Jonathan

1. a male given name, the modern spelling of biblical Jonatan

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒɔ.na.tɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Jonathan m

1. Jonathan (Biblical character)
2. a male given name

German

Alternative forms

• Jonatan (Biblical character, ecumenical)
• Jonathas (dated)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈjoːnaˌtaːn]

• Audio (Austria)

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Jo‧na‧than

Proper noun

Jonathan

1. Jonathan (Biblical character)
2. a male given name

Proper noun

Jonathan

1. (dated) accusative of Jonathas

Latin

Alternative forms

• Ionatan, Ionathas

Pronunciation

• Jonathan: (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈi̯o.na.tʰan/, [ˈi̯ɔnät̪ʰän]
• Jonathan: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈjo.na.tan/, [ˈjɔːnät̪än]
• Jonathān: (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈi̯o.na.tʰaːn/, [ˈi̯ɔnät̪ʰäːn]
• Jonathān: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈjo.na.tan/, [ˈjɔːnät̪än]

Proper noun

Jonathan m (indeclinable)

1. Jonathan (Biblical character)

Proper noun

Jonathān

1. accusative of Jonathās

Norwegian

Proper noun

Jonathan

1. a male given name, a modern spelling of Jonatan

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Jonathan.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒõ.na.tɐ̃/, /ˈʒõ.na.tɐ̃/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒõ.na.tɐ̃/, /ˈʒõ.na.tɐ̃/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒo.na.tɐ̃/, /ˈʒo.na.tɐ̃/

Proper noun

Jonathan m

1. a male given name from English, equivalent to English Jonathan

Related terms

• Jónatas, Jônatas

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Jonathan.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈʝonatan/ [ˈɟ͡ʝo.na.t̪ãn]

• IPA^(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʝonatan/ [ˈɟ͡ʝo.na.t̪ãn]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈʃonatan/ [ˈʃo.na.t̪ãn]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈʒonatan/ [ˈʒo.na.t̪ãn]

• Rhymes: -onatan
• Syllabification: Jo‧na‧than

Proper noun

Jonathan m

1. a male given name from English [in turn from Hebrew], equivalent to English Jonathan

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Jonathan c (genitive Jonathans)

1. a male given name, variant of Jonatan