Matisse
A French masculine name derived from the surname Matisse, meaning "wanton".
Name Census estimates that about 554 living Americans carry the first name Matisse. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Matisse today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Matisse births was 2021 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Matisse. 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 Matisse with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Matisse was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
554
~ 1 in 618,690 Americans
Peak year
2021
28 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,267
Tracked since 1988
Census
Matisse in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 504 people with the first name Matisse, which placed it at #20,488 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
#20,488
National first-name rank
People counted
504
504 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Matisse
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Matisse is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.0%) and Two or More Races (15.7%). 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 Matisse 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 Matisse at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.4% · 249
- Hispanic or Latino20.0% · 101
- Two or more races15.7% · 79
- Black or African American11.3% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 18
Gender
Gender distribution for Matisse
Matisse is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 561 total registrations, 346 (61.7%) were male and 215 (38.3%) were female.
Matisse as a male name
- Ranked #4,267 in 2024
- 25 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (28 births)
Matisse as a female name
- Ranked #17,143 in 2019
- 5 female births in 2019
- Peak: 1999 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Matisse on both sides of the split. Of the 509 people counted with this name, 252 were male (49.5%) and 257 were female (50.5%).
Popularity
Matisse: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Matisse from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 183 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Matisse remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Matisse 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 Matisse during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Matisses live
Origin
Meaning and history of Matisse
The name Matisse is of French origin, derived from the French surname Matisse. The surname is believed to have originated from the Old French word "matis," meaning "wasteland" or "uncultivated land."
The name Matisse first gained prominence in the 19th century, although its usage as a first name is relatively modern. The earliest recorded example of the name Matisse is Henri Matisse, the renowned French artist who lived from 1869 to 1954. He is considered one of the pioneers of modern art and a leader of the Fauvist movement.
Another notable figure with the first name Matisse was Matisse Thyville, a French artist and sculptor who lived from 1944 to 2008. He was known for his abstract sculptures and installations, and his work was exhibited in various galleries and museums throughout Europe.
In the world of literature, Matisse Martin was a French writer and poet who lived from 1922 to 2005. She published several collections of poetry and was known for her unique style and exploration of themes related to love, nature, and the human condition.
Moving to the world of music, Matisse Rosblare was a French singer and songwriter who lived from 1958 to 2018. She gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s for her captivating melodies and poetic lyrics, which often explored themes of love, loss, and self-discovery.
Lastly, Matisse Lebrun was a French fashion designer who lived from 1901 to 1982. He was renowned for his elegant and sophisticated designs, which were favored by many influential figures of the time, including royalty and celebrities.
While the name Matisse is not directly referenced in any ancient texts or religious scriptures, its French origin and association with the renowned artist Henri Matisse have contributed to its recognition and popularity as a first name in modern times.
People
Matisse + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Matisse 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
Matisse: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Matisse?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 554 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Matisse 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 618,690 US residents.
Is Matisse a common name?
We classify Matisse as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 561 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Matisse most popular?
The single biggest year for Matisse was 2021, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Matisse is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Matisse in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 504 people with the name Matisse, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,488 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 Matisse 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 Matisse?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Matisse on both sides of the split. Of the 509 people counted with this name, 252 were male (49.5%) and 257 were female (50.5%). 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 Matisse?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Matisse is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.0%) and Two or More Races (15.7%). 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 Matisse most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Matisse in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.4% (249 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 Matisse in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Matisse a male name?
Yes, 61.7% of people registered as Matisse 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 Matisse still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Matisse 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 Matisse 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 the name Matisse?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.