Boy names that mean gift of God
Two compounds account for most of this category: Greek theos + dōron, and Hebrew mattan + Yah. Persian built the same thing independently in Mehrdad, given by Mithra, and Slavic did it again in Bohdan. Twenty-one names below, with two popular misfiles named and corrected at the end.
- TheodoreTHEE-uh-dorGreek
Gift of God, from theos (god) + dōron (gift). Currently #4 in the U.S., the highest any name on this page has ever climbed.
- TheoTHEE-ohGreek
The short form, carrying the whole sense in two syllables. In German-speaking Europe it can also shorten Theobald.
- Teodoroteh-oh-DOH-rohSpanish
The Spanish and Italian Theodore; the opening Teo is two beats, not one.
- Tewodrosteh-WOD-rosAmharic
The Ethiopian Theodore, Greek by way of Geʽez and thoroughly Amharic in use. Emperor Tewodros II reigned from 1855.
- FyodorFYOH-durRussian
The Russian Theodore. Dostoevsky's first name, and the name of two tsars.
- MatthewMATH-yooHebrew
Gift of Yahweh, from mattan (gift) + a short form of the divine name. Mattityahu in full.
- Mateomah-TEH-ohSpanish
The Spanish Matthew, and one of the highest-placed names in the current U.S. top ten at #8.
- Matteomat-TEH-oItalian
The Italian form. Hold the double t, and let the final e and o stand as separate vowels.
- Matheusma-TAY-oosPortuguese
The Brazilian spelling of Mateus; in Rio the final s turns to a sh.
- Mateuszmah-TEH-ooshPolish
The Polish Matthew. Poland treats Mateusz and Maciej as two separate names because the Church counts two separate saints.
- Matveymut-VYAYRussian
The Russian Matthew, through Church Slavonic Matfei. Two syllables, stress at the end.
- MátéMAH-tayHungarian
The Hungarian Matthew. Both accents mark long vowels and the final é is a clear ay.
- MadsMASSDanish
The worn-down Danish Mathias. The d is silent, so it rhymes with pass; Madsen is the patronymic from it.
- ThijsTICEDutch
Short for Matthijs. Dutch has no th sound at all, so the th is a plain t.
- JonathanJON-uh-thunHebrew
Yahweh has given, from Yeho (the divine name) + natan, he gave. Saul's eldest son.
- Nathanielnuh-THAN-yulHebrew
God has given — natan + El. The same two elements as Jonathan with the other name for God.
- NathanNAY-thunHebrew
He gave. The giver is unnamed but understood; the same verb sits inside Jonathan and Nathaniel.
- Mehrdadmehr-DAHDPersian
Given by Mithra, from Old Iranian *Miθra-dāta-. Built exactly the way Theodore is built, and not Abrahamic at all.
- Bohdanbohh-DAHNUkrainian
Given by God: Proto-Slavic *bogъ (god) + *danъ (given), almost certainly modelled on Greek Theodotos.
- SiphoSEE-pohZulu
A gift — the stem of isipho, from the verb pha, to give. The ph is an aspirated p, never an f.
- Makanamah-KAH-nahHawaiian
A gift, and also the act of giving one: the ordinary modern Hawaiian word, not a poetic one.
One idea, assembled four times
The Greek compound, and its copies. Theodore is theos plus dōron, and it has been in continuous use since antiquity — long enough to be reshaped by Spanish into Teodoro, by Russian into Fyodor, and by Geʽez and Amharic into Tewodros. Slavic built its own version rather than borrowing: Bohdan is bog plus dan, given by God, and the Greek model is visible behind it. The best parallel of all is Persian: Mehrdad is *Miθra-dāta-, given by Mithra, assembled from the same parts and pointed at a different god entirely. The construction is older than any of the religions that use it.
The Hebrew branch. Matthew is Mattityahu, mattan (gift) plus a shortened divine name, and it has produced more national forms than almost any other name — Mateo, Matteo, Matheus, Mateusz, Matvey, Máté, Mads and Thijs are all the same word after eight different sound systems have had a turn. Jonathan and Nathaniel come at it with a verb instead of a noun: God has given. Nathan is the verb by itself, subject unstated.
Gift without the god. Zulu Sipho and Hawaiian Makana simply mean a gift, and in ordinary use both carry the implication of who the giver was without stating it. They are here on that basis and glossed honestly.
Do not put Dorian on this list. It is regularly sold as "gift" because of the dor-, but Dorian is an ethnonym — a Dorian, one of the Greek tribes — and has nothing to do with dōron; our Dorian page sets it out. Adriel is a second common misfile: it is flock of God, or possibly God is my help, and no reference gives it as gift. Related categories sit on the meanings hub.