Mathewos
A masculine given name of Semitic origin meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Mathewos. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mathewos today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mathewos births was 2020 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mathewos. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Mathewos. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2020
5 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,363
Tracked since 2020
Popularity
Mathewos: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Mathewos 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 Mathewos during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Mathewos
The name Mathewos has its origins in the ancient Aramaic language, which was widely spoken in the Middle East during the first few centuries of the Christian era. It is derived from the Aramaic name "Mattay," which itself comes from the Hebrew name "Mattityahu." The name Mattityahu means "gift of God" or "given by God."
The name Mathewos is the Ethiopian variation of the more widely known name Matthew, which is the Anglicized version of the Greek name "Matthaios." The name Matthaios is itself a translation of the Aramaic name Mattay. This linguistic evolution from Aramaic to Greek to English reflects the spread of Christianity and the influence of different languages and cultures on the name.
In the Bible, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ is named Matthew, who was a tax collector before becoming a follower of Christ. This biblical reference has contributed to the widespread use of the name among Christian communities across the world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mathewos dates back to the 4th century AD, when a Christian monk and ascetic named Mathewos lived in the Egyptian desert. He is revered as a saint in the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Another notable figure named Mathewos was the 13th-century Ethiopian Emperor Mathewos I, who reigned from 1271 to 1279 AD. He is remembered for his efforts to promote the spread of Christianity in his kingdom and for his military campaigns against neighboring Muslim states.
In the 15th century, a famous Ethiopian scholar and theologian named Mathewos Kebede lived during the reign of Emperor Zara Yaqob. He is credited with translating several religious texts from Arabic into Ge'ez, the ancient language of Ethiopia.
In the 20th century, Mathewos Araya was an Eritrean poet and playwright who made significant contributions to the literature of Eritrea. He was born in 1926 and is considered one of the pioneers of modern Eritrean literature.
Mathewos Habteselassie was an Ethiopian footballer who played as a striker for the national team in the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in 1945 and is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of Ethiopian football.
People
Mathewos + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mathewos 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
Mathewos: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mathewos?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mathewos 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Mathewos a common name?
We classify Mathewos as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mathewos most popular?
The single biggest year for Mathewos was 2020, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mathewos is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Mathewos in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mathewos a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mathewos in the SSA data are male. 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 Mathewos still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mathewos 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 Mathewos 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Mathewos?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.