Mathis
A masculine name derived from Matthew, meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,649 living Americans carry the first name Mathis. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mathis today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mathis births was 2016 (141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mathis. 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
1.6K
~ 1 in 207,856 Americans
Peak year
2016
141 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,561
Tracked since 1885
Popularity
Mathis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mathis 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 756 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mathis 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 Mathis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mathis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Mathis, while Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mathis
The name Mathis is of Germanic origin, derived from the name Matthias, which is a variant of the biblical name Matthew. The name Matthew ultimately comes from the Hebrew name Mattityahu, meaning "gift of Yahweh" or "gift of God."
The name Mathis first appeared in the Middle Ages and was widespread in German-speaking regions of Europe. It is believed to have been popularized by the apostle Matthew, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, whose name was recorded in the New Testament of the Bible.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Mathis was Mathis Grünewald, a German Renaissance painter born around 1470-1480 in the town of Würzburg, Bavaria. His most famous work is the Isenheim Altarpiece, a complex and highly symbolic altarpiece commissioned for a monastery in Isenheim, Alsace.
Another notable Mathis was Mathis der Maler (Mathis the Painter), a German Renaissance artist born around 1490 in Bingen, Rhineland-Palatinate. He was a prominent painter of portraits and religious works in the style of the Renaissance.
In the 17th century, Mathis Lussy was a Swiss mathematician and astronomer born in 1610 in Geneva. He made important contributions to the study of comets and published several works on astronomy and mathematics.
During the 19th century, Mathis Schiessl was a German sculptor born in 1828 in Munich, Bavaria. He was known for his monumental sculptures and worked on several prestigious projects, including the Siegestor (Victory Gate) in Munich.
In more recent history, Mathis Monnier was a French writer and poet born in 1936 in Normandy. He was part of the literary movement known as the "Nouveau Roman" (New Novel) and published several novels and collections of poetry during his lifetime.
While the name Mathis has its roots in the Germanic and biblical traditions, it has been adopted and used in various cultures around the world, reflecting the widespread influence of these historical figures and literary works.
People
Mathis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mathis 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
Mathis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mathis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,649 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mathis 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 207,856 US residents.
Is Mathis a common name?
We classify Mathis as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,937 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mathis most popular?
The single biggest year for Mathis was 2016, when 141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mathis is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mathis a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mathis 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.