Matthew
Matthew was given to 7,003 boys in 2025, #32 among boys’ names; 1,659,655 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1.53 million Americans named Matthew and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (92% of everyone recorded); the median is 37 years old and half are between 26 and 46.
Matthew is the #10 most common first name among living American men and boys, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Matthew by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Matthew mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Matthew is “a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.”
From earlier Matheu, from Old French Mathieu, from Latin Matthaeus, from Ancient Greek Ματθαῖος (Matthaîos), from Aramaic מַתַּי (mattay). Compare Hebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ (mattiṯyāhū, literally “gift of the Lord”). Doublet of Mattathias.
/ˈmæθjuː/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Matthew?
#32 among boys’ names, 2025
Matthew fell from #15 in 2015 to #32 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 6.7 to 4.1 per 1,000.
50,526 babies in 1983, the peak
Matthew peaked in 1983, when 50,526 babies were given it (50,209 boys, #3 among boys’ names). The 7,008 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 14% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7,003 | #32 | 4.1 |
| 2024 | 7,107 | #33 | 4.1 |
| 2023 | 7,234 | #32 | 4.2 |
| 2022 | 7,077 | #39 | 4.1 |
| 2021 | 7,489 | #36 | 4.3 |
| 2020 | 8,142 | #30 | 4.7 |
| 2019 | 9,277 | #23 | 5.2 |
| 2018 | 10,009 | #20 | 5.5 |
| 2017 | 11,732 | #16 | 6.3 |
| 2016 | 12,665 | #15 | 6.7 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 12,785 | #15 | 6.7 |
| 2014 | 12,944 | #16 | 6.7 |
| 2013 | 13,364 | #15 | 7.1 |
| 2012 | 13,993 | #12 | 7.4 |
| 2011 | 14,184 | #12 | 7.5 |
| 2010 | 14,148 | #16 | 7.4 |
| 2009 | 16,010 | #13 | 8.1 |
| 2008 | 17,604 | #10 | 8.6 |
| 2007 | 18,756 | #9 | 9.0 |
| 2006 | 20,339 | #5 | 9.9 |
| 2005 | 21,483 | #4 | 10.8 |
| 2004 | 22,882 | #4 | 11.5 |
| 2003 | 24,011 | #4 | 12.2 |
| 2002 | 25,154 | #4 | 13.0 |
| 2001 | 26,812 | #3 | 13.8 |
| 2000 | 28,580 | #3 | 14.6 |
| 1999 | 30,418 | #3 | 15.8 |
| 1998 | 31,146 | #3 | 16.3 |
| 1997 | 31,517 | #3 | 16.7 |
| 1996 | 32,077 | #2 | 16.9 |
| 1995 | 32,882 | #2 | 17.3 |
| 1994 | 33,654 | #3 | 17.4 |
| 1993 | 35,782 | #3 | 18.2 |
| 1992 | 37,733 | #3 | 18.9 |
| 1991 | 41,647 | #3 | 20.6 |
| 1990 | 44,826 | #3 | 21.8 |
| 1989 | 45,375 | #3 | 22.7 |
| 1988 | 45,876 | #3 | 24.0 |
| 1987 | 46,511 | #3 | 24.9 |
| 1986 | 46,929 | #3 | 25.5 |
| 1985 | 47,075 | #3 | 25.5 |
| 1984 | 49,767 | #3 | 27.6 |
| 1983 | 50,209 | #3 | 28.0 |
| 1982 | 46,045 | #3 | 25.4 |
| 1981 | 43,330 | #3 | 24.2 |
| 1980 | 37,834 | #6 | 21.2 |
| 1979 | 35,621 | #6 | 20.7 |
| 1978 | 34,282 | #6 | 20.9 |
| 1977 | 31,965 | #9 | 19.5 |
| 1976 | 29,951 | #9 | 19.1 |
| 1975 | 28,527 | #9 | 18.3 |
| 1974 | 27,194 | #9 | 17.3 |
| 1973 | 24,531 | #10 | 15.7 |
| 1972 | 22,928 | #10 | 14.1 |
| 1971 | 22,543 | #19 | 12.7 |
| 1970 | 20,185 | #24 | 10.9 |
| 1969 | 17,462 | #24 | 9.8 |
| 1968 | 15,823 | #24 | 9.1 |
| 1967 | 13,568 | #28 | 7.8 |
| 1966 | 10,803 | #34 | 6.1 |
| 1965 | 9,982 | #36 | 5.4 |
| 1964 | 8,981 | #43 | 4.5 |
| 1963 | 8,034 | #50 | 4.0 |
| 1962 | 7,279 | #56 | 3.5 |
| 1961 | 7,081 | #59 | 3.3 |
| 1960 | 6,925 | #61 | 3.2 |
| 1959 | 6,542 | #63 | 3.1 |
| 1958 | 6,377 | #60 | 3.0 |
| 1957 | 5,234 | #83 | 2.4 |
| 1956 | 4,366 | #90 | 2.1 |
| 1955 | 3,279 | #105 | 1.6 |
| 1954 | 2,688 | #124 | 1.3 |
| 1953 | 2,374 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1952 | 2,032 | #142 | 1.0 |
| 1951 | 1,605 | #163 | 0.85 |
| 1950 | 1,299 | #174 | 0.73 |
| 1949 | 1,219 | #177 | 0.69 |
| 1948 | 1,054 | #190 | 0.60 |
| 1947 | 1,045 | #196 | 0.57 |
| 1946 | 892 | #194 | 0.55 |
| 1945 | 730 | #198 | 0.54 |
| 1944 | 765 | #196 | 0.56 |
| 1943 | 822 | #197 | 0.58 |
| 1942 | 842 | #189 | 0.61 |
| 1941 | 727 | #198 | 0.59 |
| 1940 | 664 | #198 | 0.57 |
| 1939 | 622 | #201 | 0.56 |
| 1938 | 608 | #205 | 0.55 |
| 1937 | 605 | #201 | 0.57 |
| 1936 | 608 | #202 | 0.59 |
| 1935 | 654 | #195 | 0.63 |
| 1934 | 610 | #202 | 0.59 |
| 1933 | 581 | #201 | 0.59 |
| 1932 | 702 | #188 | 0.67 |
| 1931 | 608 | #208 | 0.58 |
| 1930 | 657 | #204 | 0.60 |
| 1929 | 727 | #189 | 0.68 |
| 1928 | 784 | #182 | 0.71 |
| 1927 | 790 | #183 | 0.70 |
| 1926 | 777 | #185 | 0.70 |
| 1925 | 840 | #174 | 0.75 |
| 1924 | 850 | #171 | 0.75 |
| 1923 | 935 | #163 | 0.85 |
| 1922 | 982 | #159 | 0.90 |
| 1921 | 914 | #161 | 0.83 |
| 1920 | 967 | #152 | 0.91 |
| 1919 | 879 | #152 | 0.90 |
| 1918 | 963 | #148 | 1.0 |
| 1917 | 862 | #149 | 0.93 |
| 1916 | 825 | #148 | 0.93 |
| 1915 | 798 | #150 | 0.94 |
| 1914 | 613 | #151 | 0.94 |
| 1913 | 491 | #151 | 1.0 |
| 1912 | 380 | #156 | 0.88 |
| 1911 | 220 | #153 | 1.0 |
| 1910 | 197 | #158 | 1.0 |
| 1909 | 147 | #170 | 0.90 |
| 1908 | 152 | #157 | 1.0 |
| 1907 | 124 | #174 | 0.84 |
| 1906 | 136 | #150 | 1.0 |
| 1905 | 107 | #177 | 0.81 |
| 1904 | 97 | #186 | 0.76 |
| 1903 | 102 | #167 | 0.86 |
| 1902 | 104 | #170 | 0.85 |
| 1901 | 89 | #167 | 0.84 |
| 1900 | 130 | #162 | 0.86 |
| 1899 | 101 | #151 | 1.0 |
| 1898 | 133 | #135 | 1.1 |
| 1897 | 100 | #156 | 0.89 |
| 1896 | 123 | #136 | 1.0 |
| 1895 | 112 | #139 | 1.0 |
| 1894 | 124 | #132 | 1.1 |
| 1893 | 108 | #138 | 1.0 |
| 1892 | 132 | #128 | 1.1 |
| 1891 | 113 | #123 | 1.1 |
| 1890 | 86 | #165 | 0.77 |
| 1889 | 118 | #118 | 1.1 |
| 1888 | 114 | #136 | 0.94 |
| 1887 | 108 | #123 | 1.1 |
| 1886 | 112 | #124 | 1.0 |
| 1885 | 111 | #124 | 1.0 |
| 1884 | 117 | #124 | 1.0 |
| 1883 | 86 | #152 | 0.82 |
| 1882 | 109 | #127 | 1.0 |
| 1881 | 80 | #157 | 0.79 |
| 1880 | 113 | #117 | 1.0 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Matthew a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Matthew has been given almost only to boys: 5,580 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Matthew: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Matthew, and how old are they?
1.53 million alive in 2026, estimated
That is 92% of the 1,659,655 Americans ever recorded as Matthew. The median Matthew alive today is 37 years old; half are between 26 and 46.
The 2020 Census counted 1,315,151 people named Matthew (1,233 women and girls, 1,313,918 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,517,026 born in the U.S. The Census count is 13% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 2,470 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 56,600 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 344,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 647,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 351,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 126,000 |
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 Matthew born?
The states with the most babies named Matthew are California, New York and Texas, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 182,345 | #23 | 0.9× |
| New York | 135,434 | #17 | 1.2× |
| Texas | 102,525 | #22 | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 94,497 | #38 | 1.3× |
| Ohio | 83,448 | #63 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 82,145 | #41 | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 69,280 | #66 | 1.1× |
| Florida | 66,369 | #10 | 0.9× |
| New Jersey | 60,016 | #20 | 1.3× |
| Massachusetts | 54,836 | #32 | 1.4× |
Where Matthew is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Matthew is most over-represented in Massachusetts: 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 boys’ 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 Matthew 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 1,737,603 babies since 1880, Matthew is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 7,008 of their 7,243 babies (97%), 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 Matthew
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 Matthew and names like it
- Compare Matthew and MathewBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sMatthew peaked in 1983.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Matthew since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Matthew: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1983The year the most babies were named Matthew.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Matthew alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with MMost given first.