Matilda
Matilda was given to 838 girls in 2025, #365 among girls’ names; 37,280 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 15,700 Americans named Matilda and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (42% of everyone recorded); the median is 12 years old and half are between 6 and 37.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Matilda by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Matilda mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Matilda is “a female given name from the Germanic languages.” Its etymology gives the sense “Matilda” (Mæþhild).
From Middle English Matilda, from Old French Mathilde, from Old High German Mahthilt, Mehthilt, from Proto-West Germanic *Mahtihild, from Proto-Germanic *Mahtihildiz; compare German Mechthild, Old English Mæþhild (“Matilda”).
/məˈtɪldə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Matilda?
#365 among girls’ names, 2025
Matilda rose from #537 in 2015 to #365 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.33 to 0.52 per 1,000.
838 babies in 2025, the peak
Matilda peaked in 2025, when 838 girls were given it, #365 among girls’ names. In 2024 it went to 773 girls.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 838 | #365 | 0.52 |
| 2024 | 773 | #411 | 0.48 |
| 2023 | 708 | #439 | 0.44 |
| 2022 | 758 | #417 | 0.46 |
| 2021 | 673 | #466 | 0.41 |
| 2020 | 640 | #478 | 0.40 |
| 2019 | 696 | #448 | 0.41 |
| 2018 | 643 | #489 | 0.38 |
| 2017 | 599 | #522 | 0.35 |
| 2016 | 631 | #496 | 0.36 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 583 | #537 | 0.33 |
| 2014 | 523 | #582 | 0.29 |
| 2013 | 437 | #648 | 0.25 |
| 2012 | 433 | #657 | 0.25 |
| 2011 | 353 | #771 | 0.20 |
| 2010 | 343 | #799 | 0.19 |
| 2009 | 375 | #762 | 0.20 |
| 2008 | 344 | #827 | 0.18 |
| 2007 | 201 | #1,235 | 0.10 |
| 2006 | 180 | #1,303 | 0.09 |
| 2005 | 124 | #1,626 | 0.07 |
| 2004 | 94 | #1,981 | 0.05 |
| 2003 | 105 | #1,798 | 0.06 |
| 2002 | 111 | #1,664 | 0.06 |
| 2001 | 100 | #1,786 | 0.06 |
| 2000 | 78 | #2,093 | 0.04 |
| 1999 | 74 | #2,087 | 0.04 |
| 1998 | 92 | #1,726 | 0.05 |
| 1997 | 82 | #1,821 | 0.05 |
| 1996 | 47 | #2,652 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 43 | #2,821 | 0.02 |
| 1994 | 36 | #3,195 | 0.02 |
| 1993 | 26 | #4,058 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 29 | #3,740 | 0.02 |
| 1991 | 29 | #3,682 | 0.02 |
| 1990 | 28 | #3,775 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 27 | #3,744 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 36 | #2,906 | 0.02 |
| 1987 | 35 | #2,820 | 0.02 |
| 1986 | 25 | #3,511 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 34 | #2,778 | 0.02 |
| 1984 | 33 | #2,762 | 0.02 |
| 1983 | 36 | #2,534 | 0.02 |
| 1982 | 53 | #1,980 | 0.03 |
| 1981 | 42 | #2,360 | 0.03 |
| 1980 | 38 | #2,518 | 0.02 |
| 1979 | 56 | #1,892 | 0.03 |
| 1978 | 37 | #2,411 | 0.02 |
| 1977 | 57 | #1,792 | 0.04 |
| 1976 | 54 | #1,762 | 0.04 |
| 1975 | 66 | #1,538 | 0.05 |
| 1974 | 68 | #1,464 | 0.05 |
| 1973 | 63 | #1,504 | 0.04 |
| 1972 | 64 | #1,498 | 0.04 |
| 1971 | 75 | #1,414 | 0.05 |
| 1970 | 80 | #1,325 | 0.05 |
| 1969 | 77 | #1,285 | 0.05 |
| 1968 | 76 | #1,262 | 0.05 |
| 1967 | 68 | #1,332 | 0.04 |
| 1966 | 87 | #1,140 | 0.05 |
| 1965 | 94 | #1,084 | 0.05 |
| 1964 | 127 | #939 | 0.07 |
| 1963 | 126 | #942 | 0.07 |
| 1962 | 101 | #1,078 | 0.05 |
| 1961 | 108 | #1,059 | 0.05 |
| 1960 | 119 | #982 | 0.06 |
| 1959 | 122 | #955 | 0.06 |
| 1958 | 108 | #1,001 | 0.05 |
| 1957 | 95 | #1,069 | 0.05 |
| 1956 | 113 | #949 | 0.06 |
| 1955 | 121 | #887 | 0.06 |
| 1954 | 113 | #906 | 0.06 |
| 1953 | 116 | #872 | 0.06 |
| 1952 | 122 | #828 | 0.07 |
| 1951 | 129 | #783 | 0.07 |
| 1950 | 140 | #723 | 0.08 |
| 1949 | 138 | #722 | 0.08 |
| 1948 | 135 | #728 | 0.08 |
| 1947 | 133 | #742 | 0.08 |
| 1946 | 129 | #711 | 0.08 |
| 1945 | 85 | #821 | 0.07 |
| 1944 | 121 | #678 | 0.09 |
| 1943 | 127 | #675 | 0.09 |
| 1942 | 131 | #655 | 0.10 |
| 1941 | 130 | #621 | 0.11 |
| 1940 | 155 | #555 | 0.14 |
| 1939 | 128 | #592 | 0.12 |
| 1938 | 152 | #555 | 0.14 |
| 1937 | 168 | #508 | 0.16 |
| 1936 | 196 | #458 | 0.19 |
| 1935 | 194 | #458 | 0.19 |
| 1934 | 201 | #457 | 0.19 |
| 1933 | 200 | #465 | 0.20 |
| 1932 | 251 | #412 | 0.24 |
| 1931 | 239 | #416 | 0.22 |
| 1930 | 304 | #390 | 0.27 |
| 1929 | 342 | #355 | 0.31 |
| 1928 | 396 | #337 | 0.34 |
| 1927 | 419 | #329 | 0.35 |
| 1926 | 417 | #324 | 0.35 |
| 1925 | 474 | #304 | 0.39 |
| 1924 | 531 | #287 | 0.43 |
| 1923 | 570 | #271 | 0.47 |
| 1922 | 626 | #259 | 0.52 |
| 1921 | 606 | #274 | 0.49 |
| 1920 | 635 | #261 | 0.53 |
| 1919 | 645 | #253 | 0.57 |
| 1918 | 690 | #243 | 0.60 |
| 1917 | 685 | #239 | 0.63 |
| 1916 | 665 | #240 | 0.64 |
| 1915 | 682 | #232 | 0.69 |
| 1914 | 494 | #241 | 0.65 |
| 1913 | 432 | #230 | 0.69 |
| 1912 | 398 | #224 | 0.71 |
| 1911 | 321 | #222 | 0.77 |
| 1910 | 281 | #227 | 0.71 |
| 1909 | 280 | #204 | 0.81 |
| 1908 | 284 | #197 | 0.85 |
| 1907 | 322 | #173 | 1.0 |
| 1906 | 295 | #173 | 1.0 |
| 1905 | 268 | #187 | 0.92 |
| 1904 | 285 | #172 | 1.0 |
| 1903 | 245 | #187 | 0.94 |
| 1902 | 290 | #165 | 1.1 |
| 1901 | 275 | #167 | 1.1 |
| 1900 | 348 | #161 | 1.2 |
| 1899 | 312 | #149 | 1.3 |
| 1898 | 349 | #144 | 1.3 |
| 1897 | 326 | #146 | 1.4 |
| 1896 | 339 | #142 | 1.4 |
| 1895 | 339 | #135 | 1.5 |
| 1894 | 295 | #149 | 1.3 |
| 1893 | 328 | #130 | 1.5 |
| 1892 | 332 | #130 | 1.6 |
| 1891 | 336 | #120 | 1.8 |
| 1890 | 293 | #133 | 1.5 |
| 1889 | 320 | #119 | 1.8 |
| 1888 | 328 | #112 | 1.8 |
| 1887 | 266 | #114 | 1.8 |
| 1886 | 309 | #104 | 2.1 |
| 1885 | 260 | #107 | 2.0 |
| 1884 | 244 | #108 | 1.9 |
| 1883 | 167 | #125 | 1.5 |
| 1882 | 242 | #103 | 2.2 |
| 1881 | 187 | #106 | 2.0 |
| 1880 | 210 | #101 | 2.3 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Matilda a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Matilda has been given almost only to girls: 10 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Matilda: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Matilda, and how old are they?
15,700 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 42% of the 37,280 Americans ever recorded as Matilda. The median Matilda alive today is 12 years old; half are between 6 and 37.
The 2020 Census counted 13,836 people named Matilda (13,802 women and girls, 34 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 12,584 born in the U.S. The Census count is 10% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 815 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,770 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 979 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 543 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,060 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 8,450 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Matilda born?
The states with the most babies named Matilda are California, Texas and New York, with 22% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 68 | #495 | 0.8× |
| Texas | 58 | #550 | 0.8× |
| New York | 53 | #323 | 1.3× |
| Washington | 37 | #198 | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 36 | #301 | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 35 | #318 | 1.4× |
| Florida | 34 | #539 | 0.5× |
| Indiana | 31 | #230 | 0.6× |
| Ohio | 30 | #383 | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 29 | #311 | 0.7× |
Where Matilda is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Matilda is most over-represented in Pennsylvania: since 1910 it was given 1.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Matilda with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 48,401 babies since 1880, Matilda is the most given (77% of them). In 2025 it was given to 838 of their 897 babies (93%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Matilda
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Matilda and names like it
- Compare Matilda and MathildaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sMatilda peaked in 2025.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Matilda since 1910.
- Germanic namesWiktionary’s origin for Matilda: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2025The year the most babies were named Matilda.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Matilda alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with MMost given first.