Matilda
A feminine name of Germanic origin meaning "mighty battle-maid".
Name Census estimates that about 14,507 living Americans carry the first name Matilda. It sits at #410 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Matilda today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Matilda births was 2024 (769 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Matilda. 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 Matilda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 23,627 Americans
Peak year
2024
769 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
1922 SSA rank
#410
Tracked since 1880
Census
Matilda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,833 people with the first name Matilda, which placed it at #1,991 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
#1,991
National first-name rank
People counted
14K
13,833 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Matilda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Matilda is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.1%) and Black (14.0%). 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 Matilda 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 Matilda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.2% · 8,052
- Hispanic or Latino19.1% · 2,642
- Black or African American14.0% · 1,932
- Two or more races3.8% · 528
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 361
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 318
Gender
Gender distribution for Matilda
Out of the 36,438 babies given the name Matilda since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Matilda as a male name
- Ranked #4,725 in 1922
- 5 male births in 1922
- Peak: 1885 (5 births)
Matilda as a female name
- Ranked #410 in 2024
- 769 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (769 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Matilda appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,836 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Matilda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Matilda from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 5,293 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Matilda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Matilda 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 Matilda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Matildas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Matilda, while Montana, Alaska, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 477 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Matilda
The name Matilda has its origins in the Germanic languages, deriving from the Old High German name Mahthilda. It is a compound name formed from the elements "maht" meaning "might" or "strength", and "hild" meaning "battle". This combination results in the meaning of "mighty in battle" or "strong fighter".
The name gained widespread popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in Germanic and Scandinavian regions. It was introduced to England following the Norman Conquest in 1066, as it was borne by Matilda of Flanders, the wife of William the Conqueror.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Matilda can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears several times in this historical document.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Matilda. One of the most famous was Matilda of Tuscany (1046-1115), a powerful feudal leader and supporter of the Papacy during the Investiture Controversy. Another prominent figure was Matilda of Boulogne (1105-1152), Queen of England as the wife of King Stephen.
In the 12th century, Matilda of England (1102-1167), daughter of King Henry I, was a claimant to the English throne during the Anarchy, a civil war between her and Stephen of Blois. Her struggle for power was an important event in English history.
During the Renaissance, Matilda of Canossa (1046-1115) was a highly influential countess who played a significant role in the Investiture Controversy, supporting Pope Gregory VII against the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV.
In more recent history, Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826-1898) was a prominent American suffragist, abolitionist, and a pioneering figure in the women's rights movement in the United States.
People
Matilda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Matilda 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
Matilda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Matilda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,507 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Matilda 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 23,627 US residents.
Is Matilda a common name?
We classify Matilda as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 36,438 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Matilda most popular?
The single biggest year for Matilda was 2024, when 769 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Matilda is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Matilda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,833 people with the name Matilda, or 4.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,991 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 Matilda 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 Matilda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Matilda appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,836 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Matilda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Matilda is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.1%) and Black (14.0%). 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 Matilda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Matilda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.2% (8,052 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 Matilda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Matilda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Matilda 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 Matilda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Matilda 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 Matilda 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 Matilda 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.