Find out how popular the first name Matisyahu has been for the last 29 years (from 1994 to 2022) and learn more about the meaning and history.

Popularity of Matisyahu by gender

Based on the last 29 years of data, Matisyahu is exclusively a male name.

For the most recent data in 2022, there were 5 male babies and 0 female babies born with the name Matisyahu.

The history of the first name Matisyahu

The name Matisyahu is a Hebrew name derived from the biblical figure Mattathias, which means "gift of God" or "man of God." It has its origins in the Hasmonean period, around the 2nd century BCE, when Judah Maccabee's father, Mattathias, led the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire.

The name Matisyahu appears in the Book of Maccabees, part of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible. It is the Hebrew variant of the Greek name Mattathias, which was a common name among Jews during the Hellenistic period. The name gained significance during the Maccabean Revolt, when Mattathias and his sons fought to preserve Jewish religious and cultural traditions.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Matisyahu was Matisyahu Delacrut, a 14th-century French Talmudic scholar and rabbi. Another notable figure was Matisyahu Salomon Delmedigo, a 16th-century Italian philosopher and mathematician who wrote extensively on Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism.

In the 17th century, Matisyahu Kaplan was a prominent Polish rabbi and author of the work "Chovat HaTalmidim," which explored the duties of students toward their teachers. A century later, Matisyahu Strashun was a renowned Lithuanian Talmudic scholar and rosh yeshiva (head of a Talmudic academy) in Vilna.

During the 20th century, Matisyahu Olshan was a prominent Zionist leader and one of the pioneers of the Jewish settlement in Palestine. He was involved in the establishment of several important Jewish organizations and institutions in the pre-state period.

More recently, Matisyahu Miller, an American reggae singer and former Orthodox Jew, has brought the name into popular culture. His stage name, simply Matisyahu, has helped to revive and popularize the name among contemporary Jewish and non-Jewish communities alike.

Data source

The first name data used on this page comes from the Social Security Administration (SSA). They've been collecting data on baby names since 1880.

The history and meaning of the name Matisyahu was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Matisyahu, please contact us.

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