Nathan Higginbotham

(male) Biblical name, meaning ‘he (God) has given’ in Hebrew (compare Nathaniel). This was the name of a prophet who had the courage to reproach King David for arranging the death in battle of Uriah the Hittite in order to get possession of the latter's wife Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:1–15). It was also the name of one of David's own sons. In modern times this name has often been taken as a short form of Nathaniel or of Jonathan. Since the 1990s it has been much favoured throughout the English-speaking world.

English (Lancashire and Yorkshire): habitational name from a place in Lancashire now known as Oakenbottom. The history of the place name is somewhat confused, but it is probably composed of the Old English elements ǣcen or ācen ‘oaken’ + botme ‘broad valley’. During the Middle Ages this name became successively Eakenbottom and Ickenbottom, the first element becoming associated with the dialect word hicken or higgen ‘mountain ash’ or the personal name Higgin.