Natalie Is Not in the Bible — but It Is Made from Christmas

Natalie is not in the Bible. But of all the names that are not, it may be the one with the shortest distance to travel.

It comes from Christmas.

What does the name Natalie mean?

From the Latin natalis, “of birth” — and specifically from dies natalis Domini, the birthday of the Lord, the ordinary Latin phrase for Christmas Day.

Girls born on or near 25 December were called Natalia. The name is a date. It means “born at Christmas,” and it has meant that for at least sixteen hundred years.

Is Natalie in the Bible?

No. The Latin naming custom that produced it comes several centuries after the New Testament was written.

What is in the Bible is the day the name is made of.

Luke 2 and the word the name points at

And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. (Luke 2:7)

Two verses later the angel gives the announcement that the name preserves: Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:11)

“Born to you.” That is natus est vobis in the Latin the name grew out of. Every Natalie carries a fragment of that sentence.

Saint Natalia

There is a Natalia in Christian history, remembered in both the Eastern and Western calendars. By tradition she was the wife of Adrian of Nicomedia, a Roman officer who saw Christians tortured, asked what they believed that was worth it, and declared himself one of them on the spot.

Natalia is remembered not for dying but for what she did while her husband was in prison: she visited him, cut her hair and dressed as a man to get past the guards, and stayed with him to the end. Afterwards she carried his remains to safety.

The stories from this period are late and heavily embroidered, and a careful reader should hold the details loosely. But the shape of what the Church chose to remember is worth noticing. It honoured the one who stayed.

Verses for a Natalie

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. (Isaiah 9:6) — the promise the birthday keeps.

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman. (Galatians 4:4) — the birth as an appointment, not an accident.

Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. (John 3:3) — the second birthday, which the first one points towards.

A blessing for Natalie

May we keep the feast the name is made of, and not only in December.

May we be, like Natalia, the ones who stay when staying is the harder thing.

And may the birth the name remembers be more to us than a date on a calendar.

Related reading

• Caroline Is Not in the Bible — but Junia Is
• Is Your Name in the Bible? A Directory of 231 Names