Mathias
A Greek form of Matthew, meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 13,140 living Americans carry the first name Mathias. It sits at #337 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mathias today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mathias births was 2024 (1,031 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mathias. 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
- • Mathias is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 26,085 Americans
Peak year
2024
1,031 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#337
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Mathias: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mathias from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 5,175 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mathias remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mathias 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 Mathias during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mathias' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Mathias, while West Virginia, South Dakota, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 234 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mathias
The given name Mathias has its origins in the Hebrew name Mattityahu, which means "gift of Yahweh" or "gift of God". This name is derived from the Hebrew words "mattat" meaning "gift" and "Yah" which is a shortened form of the Hebrew name for God, Yahweh. The name was eventually Hellenized into the Greek form Matthias during the time of the New Testament.
The name Matthias is mentioned in the Bible's New Testament as one of the first disciples of Jesus Christ. According to the Acts of the Apostles, Matthias was chosen by the remaining eleven apostles to replace Judas Iscariot after Judas betrayed Jesus and committed suicide. Matthias was selected by casting lots, which was a common practice at the time to determine God's will.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Mathias was Saint Matthias, the apostle mentioned in the New Testament. He lived in the 1st century AD and is venerated as a saint in Christianity. Another early figure with this name was Matthias Corvinus, also known as Matthias I, who was the King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 until his death in 1490.
During the Middle Ages, Mathias was a popular name among royalty and nobility in various European countries. One notable figure was Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor, who ruled from 1612 to 1619. Another was Matthias of Arras, a 13th-century French architect and sculptor who is known for his work on the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris.
In the 16th century, Mathias Grünewald was a renowned German Renaissance painter, best known for his altarpiece in the Isenheim Altarpiece, completed in 1515. Mathias Rust, a German aviator, gained notoriety in 1987 when he illegally landed a small plane near the Red Square in Moscow, an event that became a symbolic act of protest against the Soviet regime.
Other notable individuals with the name Mathias include Mathias Sandorf, a fictional character created by Jules Verne in his novel "Mathias Sandorf" published in 1885. Matthias Buchinger was an 18th-century German artist and calligrapher who was born without hands or feet and achieved remarkable skill in his craft.
People
Mathias + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mathias 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
Mathias: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mathias?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13,140 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mathias 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 26,085 US residents.
Is Mathias a common name?
We classify Mathias as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,452 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mathias most popular?
The single biggest year for Mathias was 2024, when 1,031 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mathias is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mathias a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mathias 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.
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.