Mattheu
Masculine name from Hebrew roots meaning "gift from God".
Name Census estimates that about 114 living Americans carry the first name Mattheu. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mattheu today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mattheu births was 1988 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mattheu. 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
114
~ 1 in 3,006,617 Americans
Peak year
1988
10 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2011 SSA rank
#10,370
Tracked since 1969
Census
Mattheu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 168 people with the first name Mattheu, which placed it at #42,627 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
#42,627
National first-name rank
People counted
168
168 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mattheu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mattheu is White at 51.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.2%) and Black (13.7%). 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 Mattheu 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 Mattheu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.2% · 86
- Hispanic or Latino20.2% · 34
- Black or African American13.7% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native6.0% · 10
- Two or more races4.8% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 7
Popularity
Mattheu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mattheu from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 44 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mattheu 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 Mattheu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mattheu
The name Mattheu has its origins in the ancient Hebrew language and culture, originating in the region of ancient Judea, which is part of modern-day Israel and the Palestinian territories. It is derived from the Hebrew name "Mattityahu," which means "gift of God" or "gift from God."
Mattheu is a variant spelling of the more common name Matthew, which is the English form of the Greek name "Matthaios," itself derived from the Hebrew "Mattityahu." The name has been in use for centuries and has been popular among both Jews and Christians.
One of the earliest and most notable historical references to the name Mattheu is found in the New Testament of the Bible, where it is the name of one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. Matthew, the tax collector, is the author of the first gospel in the New Testament, known as the Gospel of Matthew.
In the 4th century, there was a famous Christian monk named Matthew the Recluse, who lived in the deserts of Syria and wrote extensively on asceticism and the spiritual life. Another notable figure was Matthew of Westminster, an English Benedictine monk and chronicler who lived in the 14th century and wrote a famous chronicle of English history.
During the Renaissance period, the name Mattheu was associated with several influential artists and intellectuals. One of the most famous was the Italian painter Matteo Rosselli (1578-1650), known for his religious and mythological works. Another notable figure was the French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes (1596-1650), whose given name was René, but he was often referred to as Mattheu Descartes.
In the 17th century, the English poet and satirist Matthew Prior (1664-1721) gained fame for his works, which included poems, essays, and political satires. In the 18th century, there was the Irish philosopher and theologian Matthew Tindal (1657-1733), known for his work "Christianity as Old as the Creation."
Throughout history, the name Mattheu has been borne by many other notable individuals in various fields, including politics, science, and literature, reflecting its enduring popularity and cultural significance across different regions and time periods.
People
Mattheu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mattheu 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
Mattheu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mattheu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 114 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mattheu 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 3,006,617 US residents.
Is Mattheu a common name?
We classify Mattheu as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 118 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mattheu most popular?
The single biggest year for Mattheu was 1988, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mattheu is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mattheu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 168 people with the name Mattheu, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,627 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 Mattheu 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 Mattheu?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mattheu leans strongly male. 161 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.4%). 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 Mattheu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mattheu is White at 51.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.2%) and Black (13.7%). 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 Mattheu most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mattheu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.2% (86 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 Mattheu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mattheu a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mattheu 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 Mattheu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mattheu 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 Mattheu 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 common is the name Mattheu?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.