Head to head · Boys' names
Brooks vs Nathan
#64 vs #63 in 2025
Nathan is a whisker ahead (#63 vs #64 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Nathan is holding its place on the charts, Brooks is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Brooks has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Nathan leads 4 measures of 6; Brooks leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Brooks #832, Nathan #126 — Nathan higher
- 1890s: Brooks #725, Nathan #135 — Nathan higher
- 1900s: Brooks #693, Nathan #133 — Nathan higher
- 1910s: Brooks #781, Nathan #135 — Nathan higher
- 1920s: Brooks #839, Nathan #204 — Nathan higher
- 1930s: Brooks #853, Nathan #247 — Nathan higher
- 1940s: Brooks #779, Nathan #257 — Nathan higher
- 1950s: Brooks #741, Nathan #225 — Nathan higher
- 1960s: Brooks #723, Nathan #183 — Nathan higher
- 1970s: Brooks #707, Nathan #62 — Nathan higher
- 1980s: Brooks #540, Nathan #40 — Nathan higher
- 1990s: Brooks #678, Nathan #39 — Nathan higher
- 2000s: Brooks #638, Nathan #25 — Nathan higher
- 2010s: Brooks #260, Nathan #38 — Nathan higher
- 2020s: Brooks #75, Nathan #59 — Nathan higher
Nathan stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Brooks | Nathan |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #832 | #126 |
| 1890s | #725 | #135 |
| 1900s | #693 | #133 |
| 1910s | #781 | #135 |
| 1920s | #839 | #204 |
| 1930s | #853 | #247 |
| 1940s | #779 | #257 |
| 1950s | #741 | #225 |
| 1960s | #723 | #183 |
| 1970s | #707 | #62 |
| 1980s | #540 | #40 |
| 1990s | #678 | #39 |
| 2000s | #638 | #25 |
| 2010s | #260 | #38 |
| 2020s | #75 | #59 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Brooks
- Canada#71
Nathan
- Canada#13
- France#39
- Scotland#56
- England & Wales#88
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Brooks
Of the brooks — from a family that lived beside a stream
The root is Old English brōc, 'brook, stream'. The final -s marks the surname sense 'of the brook(s)', the same possessive ending seen in Wells, Rivers and Banks.
brōc (Old English) → Brook → Brooke → Brooks
How it traveled
The word behind it is very old: brōc was already Old English for a small stream, and medieval English records show families identified by the water they lived near — atte Broke, del Brok — which hardened into the hereditary surnames Brook, Brooke and Brooks. Those surnames traveled to North America with English settlers and, in the American habit of promoting family names to given names, Brooks began appearing as a first name for boys.
Nathan
he gave
Hebrew natan is simply the verb: he gave. Nathaniel adds God as the giver — God has given — and Jonathan names the giver differently, using the divine name. Nathan on its own leaves the subject unstated, which is either an abbreviation or a deliberate reticence depending on which scholar you ask. The verb itself is not disputed and the name is one of the plainest in the Hebrew Bible.
Natan → Nathan
How it traveled
The Nathan of the books of Samuel is a court prophet who does something court prophets rarely survive: he confronts David over Bathsheba by telling him a parable about a rich man who takes a poor man's only lamb, waits for the king to condemn the rich man, and then says that the king is the man. It is one of the most quoted passages in the Hebrew Bible and it is the reason the name carries what it carries.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Brooks
BROOKS
One syllable, rhyming with books. There is no competing pronunciation in English, and the spelling gives it away on sight.
- Brook — An informal trimming of the final -s; also stands alone as a given name in English, more often for girls in the Brooke spelling.
- Brooksie — A family diminutive, used at home rather than on paperwork.
Nathan
NAY-thun
NAY-thun, two syllables, stress at the front, the th soft as in the word the. Hebrew says na-TAN with the weight at the back and both vowels short, which is a noticeably different name to an Israeli ear. French keeps the English-ish shape and adds a nasal ending.
- Nate — The front clipped to one syllable, and a complete working name; what most Nathans go by.
- Nat — The same clipping with a short vowel, older in English and now heard mostly from earlier generations.
- Than — The back syllable alone, rare and used mostly where the family wants something nobody else has.
Who has carried each name
Brooks
No documented entry for Brooks yet.
Nathan
Nathan Hale (b. 1755) — Revolutionary spy: "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country"
Nathan Lane (b. 1956) — Broadway's beloved comic star (The Producers)
Nathan Fillion (b. 1971) — Castle and Firefly star
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Brooks if you want…
- a name on the way upup 28 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesBrooks is 1 syllable to Nathan's 2
- a name that feels very nowBrooks is climbing the charts fast
Choose Nathan if you want…
- a name holding steadyNathan is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itNathan runs 2 syllables, Brooks 1
- a name that charts abroad tooNathan is on the national lists of Canada, France, Scotland and England & Wales
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 53% for Brooks
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Brooks
Strengths
- Spelled the way an ordinary English word is spelled, so most people get it right on the first try after hearing it once.
- One syllable — easy to say, easy to call across a yard, and it sits cleanly in front of longer middle and last names.
- Documented as a given name for boys for well over a century, so the recent wave is a revival rather than an invention.
To consider
- Brooke, the near-identical spelling, is used mainly for girls in English. Expect the occasional form that comes back with an -e on the end.
- The final -s invites mix-ups: people may hear it as a surname, ask for a first name after it, or reverse the two on forms.
- It is climbing quickly. A boy named Brooks now will likely be the only one in his class, but may meet more of them as he grows up.
Nathan
Strengths
- Two syllables, one spelling, and no ambiguity anywhere in it — rare in a name this widely used.
- Nate is a complete working name rather than a clipping that needs the long form behind it.
- It has been in continuous English use for four centuries without becoming tied to any one period.
To consider
- It is assumed to be short for Nathaniel constantly, and correcting that is a small speech most Nathans stop giving.
- A great many people already carry it, so a Nathan will rarely be the only one in a workplace over a lifetime.
- Nate is so automatic that a family wanting the full name used will have to insist and will mostly lose.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Brooks
53%chance Brooks feels dated by 2040
Brooks is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Nathan
12%chance Nathan feels dated by 2040
Nathan has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Brooks and Nathan in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Brooks and Nathan?
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Brooks and Nathan — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Brooks or Nathan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Brooks or Nathan?
- Nathan, in 2025: Nathan ranked #63 with 4,975 babies; Brooks ranked #64 with 4,877 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Brooks or Nathan?
- Brooks. Over the last five years Brooks moved up 28 places; Nathan moved down 8 places.
- Which is the older name, Brooks or Nathan?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Brooks and Nathan?
- About 54,500 people named Brooks are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 540,000 people named Nathan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Brookss or Nathans in the classroom?
- Brooks will almost certainly be the only one in school. Nathan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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