Matasha
A feminine name of Russian origin derived from Maria or Marta.
Name Census estimates that about 212 living Americans carry the first name Matasha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Matasha today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Matasha births was 1978 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Matasha. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
212
~ 1 in 1,616,766 Americans
Peak year
1978
19 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1992 SSA rank
#11,247
Tracked since 1970
Census
Matasha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 196 people with the first name Matasha, which placed it at #38,869 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#38,869
National first-name rank
People counted
196
196 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Matasha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Matasha is Black at 60.7%. The next largest groups are White (30.6%) and Hispanic (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Matasha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Matasha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.7% · 119
- White30.6% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 9
- Two or more races2.6% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Matasha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Matasha from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 110 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Matasha by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Matasha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Matasha
The name Matasha has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language of South Asia. The name is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit word "Mata," which means "mother" or "source of life." This suggests that the name might have been initially used to honor or pay tribute to the divine feminine energy or the concept of motherhood in ancient Hindu culture.
The earliest recorded use of the name Matasha can be traced back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, where it was often associated with goddesses and female deities revered in Hinduism. One of the earliest known references to the name Matasha is found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic poem that dates back to around the 8th or 9th century BCE. In this epic, Matasha is mentioned as the name of a powerful female warrior and protector.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Matasha. One of the earliest documented cases was Matasha Devi (c. 1050 CE), a Hindu queen and regent of the Chahamana dynasty in present-day Rajasthan, India. She is celebrated for her bravery and leadership during times of conflict and is often depicted in Hindu mythology as a fearless warrior goddess.
In the 16th century, Matasha Kunwar (c. 1550-1623) was a renowned poetess and spiritual figure from the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Her literary works, which often explored themes of devotion and mysticism, are considered significant contributions to the Hindi literary tradition.
Another notable figure was Matasha Chowdhury (1851-1923), a social reformer and educator from Bengal, British India. She played a pivotal role in promoting women's education and advocating for the rights of women and children during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the realm of performing arts, Matasha Sundari (1920-1995) was a celebrated Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She was instrumental in preserving and promoting the traditional dance forms of Odissi and Bharatanatyam, and her contributions have had a lasting impact on the world of Indian dance.
Matasha Gul (1958-present) is a contemporary Afghan writer and activist who has gained recognition for her works that shed light on the experiences of women in Afghanistan during times of conflict and oppression. Her poetry and prose have been widely acclaimed for their powerful and poignant depictions of resilience and strength in the face of adversity.
People
Matasha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Matasha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Matasha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Matasha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 212 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Matasha going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,616,766 US residents.
Is Matasha a common name?
We classify Matasha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 229 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Matasha most popular?
The single biggest year for Matasha was 1978, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Matasha is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Matasha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 196 people with the name Matasha, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,869 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Matasha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Matasha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Matasha leans strongly female. 200 people counted with this name were female (97.1%), compared with 6 male bearers (2.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Matasha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Matasha is Black at 60.7%. The next largest groups are White (30.6%) and Hispanic (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Matasha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Matasha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.7% (119 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Matasha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Matasha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Matasha in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Matasha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Matasha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Matasha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Matasha as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Matasha, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.