Matea
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Matthias.
Name Census estimates that about 824 living Americans carry the first name Matea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Matea today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Matea births was 2006 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Matea. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Matea with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
824
~ 1 in 415,964 Americans
Peak year
2006
51 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,295
Tracked since 1922
Census
Matea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,057 people with the first name Matea, which placed it at #11,947 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
#11,947
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,057 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Matea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Matea is White at 46.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (35.1%) and Two or More Races (7.6%). 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 Matea 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 Matea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.2% · 488
- Hispanic or Latino35.1% · 371
- Two or more races7.6% · 80
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.8% · 61
- Black or African American4.0% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 15
Popularity
Matea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Matea from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 360 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Matea remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Matea 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 Matea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mateas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Matea, while Illinois, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Matea
The name Matea has its origins in the Croatian language and culture. It is a feminine given name derived from the Latin name Matthaeus, which means "gift of God." The name gained popularity in the region of Dalmatia, Croatia, during the Middle Ages.
In its earliest recorded use, the name Matea appeared in Croatian historical records from the 12th century. It was especially common among aristocratic families and the nobility in the coastal regions of Croatia. The name's popularity spread to other parts of the Balkans and neighboring regions over the subsequent centuries.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Matea was Matea Frankapan, a Croatian noblewoman who lived in the 14th century. She was a member of the powerful Frankopan noble family and played a significant role in the political affairs of the time.
Another historical figure with the name Matea was Matea Anđelović, a Croatian renaissance poet and writer who lived in the 15th century. She was known for her lyrical poetry and is considered one of the earliest known female writers in Croatian literature.
In the 16th century, Matea Gundulić was a prominent Croatian poet and playwright from the city of Dubrovnik. Her works, which included plays and poetry, were celebrated for their literary merit and contributed to the development of Croatian Renaissance literature.
During the 17th century, Matea Bettera was a Croatian painter and artist from the city of Split. She is known for her religious paintings and frescoes that adorned churches and monasteries throughout Dalmatia.
In more recent history, Matea Filan was a Croatian partisan and resistance fighter during World War II. She was recognized for her bravery and dedication to the anti-fascist movement in Yugoslavia and received several military honors for her service.
While the name Matea has its roots in Croatian culture, it has since gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries, where it is sometimes spelled as Matéa or Mathea. However, the detailed history and origin of the name remain firmly rooted in the Croatian language and cultural heritage.
People
Matea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Matea 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
Matea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Matea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 824 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Matea 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 415,964 US residents.
Is Matea a common name?
We classify Matea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 841 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Matea most popular?
The single biggest year for Matea was 2006, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Matea is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Matea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,057 people with the name Matea, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,947 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 Matea 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 Matea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Matea leans strongly female. 1,019 people counted with this name were female (97.1%), compared with 30 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 Matea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Matea is White at 46.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (35.1%) and Two or More Races (7.6%). 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 Matea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Matea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.2% (488 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 Matea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Matea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Matea 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 Matea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Matea 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 Matea 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 Matea as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.