My mother has told me the reasoning behind giving this name to me. She says it means “gift from God.” Depending on if I was an attractive looking baby, I would either be named Nathan or Jeff. Reasoning leads me to think that she only considered me a gift from God because I was good looking, but I know there was more to the story than that. My parents had difficulty conceiving, and I ended up being their only biological child.

The name is somewhat common. Most likely, this is because of the prophet named Nathan, who was written about in the Bible. Even though I didn’t grow up going to church, I was raised in a society with a lot of Christian influence.

Other than that, I don’t ascribe any significance to my first name. It is a word used for convenience to distinguish my existence among other people.