Matthews
Matthews was given to 10 boys in 2025, #8,020 among boys’ names; 1,605 Americans have been recorded with it since 1882 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,130 Americans named Matthews and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (70% of everyone recorded); the median is 38 years old and half are between 23 and 52.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Matthews by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Matthews mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Matthews is “an English surname originating as a patronymic derived from the given name Matthew.”
/ˈmæθjuz/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Matthews?
#8,020 among boys’ names, 2025
Matthews fell from #5,436 in 2015 to #8,020 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 8.9 to 5.9 per million.
41 babies in 1988, the peak
Matthews peaked in 1988, when 41 boys were given it, #1,720 among boys’ names. The 10 births of 2025 are 24% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 10 | #8,020 | 5.9 |
| 2024 | 22 | #4,647 | 12.8 |
| 2023 | 17 | #5,591 | 9.9 |
| 2022 | 7 | #10,474 | 4.0 |
| 2021 | 9 | #8,593 | 5.1 |
| 2020 | 14 | #6,176 | 8.1 |
| 2019 | 7 | #10,435 | 3.9 |
| 2018 | 10 | #7,957 | 5.5 |
| 2017 | 9 | #8,586 | 4.9 |
| 2016 | 10 | #7,947 | 5.3 |
Every recorded year (119)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 17 | #5,436 | 8.9 |
| 2014 | 10 | #7,928 | 5.2 |
| 2013 | 10 | #7,896 | 5.3 |
| 2012 | 8 | #9,403 | 4.2 |
| 2011 | 6 | #11,767 | 3.2 |
| 2010 | 10 | #7,942 | 5.2 |
| 2009 | 14 | #6,307 | 7.1 |
| 2008 | 14 | #6,292 | 6.9 |
| 2007 | 20 | #4,743 | 9.6 |
| 2006 | 13 | #6,336 | 6.3 |
| 2005 | 21 | #4,280 | 10.5 |
| 2004 | 14 | #5,690 | 7.1 |
| 2003 | 18 | #4,549 | 9.1 |
| 2002 | 18 | #4,425 | 9.3 |
| 2001 | 13 | #5,559 | 6.7 |
| 2000 | 30 | #2,960 | 15.3 |
| 1999 | 23 | #3,444 | 12.0 |
| 1998 | 16 | #4,323 | 8.4 |
| 1997 | 15 | #4,388 | 8.0 |
| 1996 | 15 | #4,312 | 7.9 |
| 1995 | 17 | #3,788 | 8.9 |
| 1994 | 11 | #5,320 | 5.7 |
| 1993 | 19 | #3,451 | 9.7 |
| 1992 | 21 | #3,168 | 10.5 |
| 1991 | 14 | #4,147 | 6.9 |
| 1990 | 25 | #2,668 | 12.2 |
| 1989 | 24 | #2,657 | 12.0 |
| 1988 | 41 | #1,720 | 21.4 |
| 1987 | 28 | #2,153 | 15.0 |
| 1986 | 30 | #1,990 | 16.3 |
| 1985 | 21 | #2,476 | 11.4 |
| 1984 | 34 | #1,709 | 18.8 |
| 1983 | 28 | #1,936 | 15.6 |
| 1982 | 22 | #2,314 | 12.1 |
| 1981 | 23 | #2,246 | 12.8 |
| 1980 | 18 | #2,686 | 10.1 |
| 1979 | 14 | #3,107 | 8.1 |
| 1978 | 17 | #2,624 | 10.4 |
| 1977 | 18 | #2,525 | 11.0 |
| 1976 | 11 | #3,400 | 7.0 |
| 1975 | 19 | #2,331 | 12.2 |
| 1974 | 10 | #3,483 | 6.4 |
| 1973 | 7 | #4,346 | 4.5 |
| 1972 | 15 | #2,501 | 9.3 |
| 1971 | 13 | #2,764 | 7.4 |
| 1970 | 17 | #2,260 | 9.1 |
| 1969 | 10 | #2,990 | 5.6 |
| 1968 | 18 | #1,939 | 10.4 |
| 1967 | 17 | #1,950 | 9.7 |
| 1966 | 11 | #2,572 | 6.2 |
| 1965 | 17 | #1,970 | 9.1 |
| 1964 | 6 | #3,886 | 3.0 |
| 1963 | 7 | #3,543 | 3.4 |
| 1962 | 12 | #2,461 | 5.8 |
| 1961 | 10 | #2,831 | 4.7 |
| 1960 | 12 | #2,493 | 5.6 |
| 1959 | 12 | #2,494 | 5.6 |
| 1958 | 11 | #2,596 | 5.2 |
| 1957 | 12 | #2,444 | 5.6 |
| 1956 | 11 | #2,588 | 5.2 |
| 1955 | 9 | #2,898 | 4.4 |
| 1954 | 9 | #2,882 | 4.4 |
| 1953 | 17 | #1,935 | 8.6 |
| 1952 | 11 | #2,458 | 5.7 |
| 1951 | 14 | #2,111 | 7.4 |
| 1950 | 15 | #1,994 | 8.4 |
| 1949 | 7 | #3,199 | 3.9 |
| 1948 | 14 | #2,081 | 8.0 |
| 1947 | 14 | #2,134 | 7.7 |
| 1946 | 8 | #2,831 | 4.9 |
| 1945 | 13 | #1,985 | 9.7 |
| 1944 | 14 | #1,943 | 10.3 |
| 1943 | 10 | #2,502 | 7.0 |
| 1942 | 10 | #2,477 | 7.2 |
| 1941 | 14 | #1,965 | 11.4 |
| 1939 | 5 | #3,797 | 4.5 |
| 1938 | 8 | #2,791 | 7.2 |
| 1937 | 6 | #3,388 | 5.6 |
| 1936 | 8 | #2,781 | 7.7 |
| 1935 | 7 | #3,151 | 6.7 |
| 1934 | 9 | #2,688 | 8.7 |
| 1933 | 12 | #2,177 | 12.1 |
| 1932 | 9 | #2,775 | 8.6 |
| 1931 | 8 | #3,011 | 7.7 |
| 1930 | 10 | #2,723 | 9.1 |
| 1929 | 13 | #2,276 | 12.1 |
| 1928 | 9 | #2,990 | 8.1 |
| 1927 | 11 | #2,639 | 9.8 |
| 1926 | 11 | #2,674 | 9.9 |
| 1925 | 9 | #3,057 | 8.1 |
| 1924 | 15 | #2,186 | 13.2 |
| 1923 | 16 | #2,088 | 14.6 |
| 1922 | 11 | #2,744 | 10.1 |
| 1921 | 12 | #2,581 | 10.9 |
| 1920 | 19 | #1,857 | 17.9 |
| 1919 | 16 | #2,032 | 16.3 |
| 1918 | 13 | #2,350 | 12.8 |
| 1917 | 13 | #2,243 | 14.0 |
| 1916 | 11 | #2,485 | 12.4 |
| 1915 | 7 | #3,273 | 8.2 |
| 1914 | 9 | #2,389 | 13.7 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,408 | 13.7 |
| 1912 | 6 | #2,458 | 14.0 |
| 1911 | 7 | #1,485 | 31.0 |
| 1909 | 6 | #1,396 | 36.6 |
| 1906 | 5 | #1,358 | 37.6 |
| 1903 | 5 | #1,241 | 41.9 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,185 | 43.2 |
| 1882 | 5 | #1,039 | 44.0 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Matthews a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Matthews has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 119 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Matthews: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Matthews, and how old are they?
1,130 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 70% of the 1,605 Americans ever recorded as Matthews. The median Matthews alive today is 38 years old; half are between 23 and 52.
The 2020 Census counted 816 people named Matthews (35 women and girls, 781 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,115 born in the U.S. The Census count is 27% 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 | 33 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 138 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 205 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 353 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 248 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 151 |
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).
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 2,057 babies since 1880, Matthews is the most given (78% of them).
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 Matthews
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 Matthews and names like it
- Compare Matthews and MathewsBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sMatthews peaked in 1988.
- Louisiana’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Matthews since 1910.
- The top names of 1988The year the most babies were named Matthews.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Matthews alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with MMost given first.