Netanyahu (surname)

Netanyahu (Hebrew: נְתַנְיָהוּ), also transliterated Netanya, is a Hebrew-language Jewish surname.

The surname is one of modern origin and affiliated with the family of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu's father, Benzion Mileikowsky, began using the surname Netanyahu after his family immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in the early 1920s. He did so in honor of his father, Nathan Mileikowsky, who would sometimes hebraize his given name to Netanyahu.

The name Netanyahu means 'given by God'. It comes from the Hebrew natan (נָתַן, 'to give') and Yah (יָהּ, 'Yah, Yahweh'). It is synonymous with the name Nathanael, which comes from natan and El (אֵל) because Yah and El are both names of God in Judaism and used interchangeably.

Notable people with the name include:

• Benjamin Netanyahu (born 1949), Prime Minister of Israel 1996–1999, 2009–2021, and 2022–present
• Benzion Netanyahu (né Mileikowsky; 1910–2012), Israeli historian
• Elisha Netanyahu (1912–1986), Israeli mathematician
• Iddo Netanyahu (born 1952), Israeli physician and author
• Nathan Netanyahu (born 1951), Israeli computer scientist
• Sara Netanyahu (née Ben-Artzi; born 1958), current spouse of the prime minister of Israel
• Shoshana Netanyahu (née Shenburg; 1923–2022), Israeli Supreme Court justice
• Yair Netanyahu (born 1991), Israeli podcaster
• Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu (1946–1976), Israeli special forces commander