Mattheus
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 212 living Americans carry the first name Mattheus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mattheus today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mattheus births was 2007 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mattheus. 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 Mattheus with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
212
~ 1 in 1,616,766 Americans
Peak year
2007
15 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,813
Tracked since 1995
Census
Mattheus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 231 people with the first name Mattheus, which placed it at #35,041 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
#35,041
National first-name rank
People counted
231
231 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mattheus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mattheus is White at 56.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.6%) and Black (8.7%). 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 Mattheus 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 Mattheus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.7% · 131
- Hispanic or Latino18.6% · 43
- Black or African American8.7% · 20
- Two or more races8.7% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.4% · 17
Popularity
Mattheus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mattheus from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 84 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Mattheus remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mattheus 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 Mattheus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mattheus' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mattheus
Mattheus is a masculine given name derived from the Hebrew name Mattityahu, which means "gift of Yahweh" or "gift of God". It has its origins in the Biblical name Matthias, one of the twelve apostles chosen to replace Judas Iscariot after his betrayal of Jesus Christ. The name was widely adopted by early Christians as a way to commemorate the apostle and spread the faith.
The earliest known use of the name can be traced back to the 1st century CE, when it was mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible. In the Book of Acts, Matthias was chosen by the remaining eleven apostles to join their ranks after Judas' death. This account solidified the name's association with Christianity and contributed to its widespread adoption across Europe in the following centuries.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Mattheus. One of the most famous was Mattheus Platearius, an Italian physician and botanist who lived in the 12th century. He is renowned for his work "Liber de Simplici Medicina", which was an influential text on medicinal plants and their properties.
Another prominent figure was Mattheus Schwarz, a German painter and architect who lived from 1592 to 1648. He is best known for his contributions to the Baroque style of architecture and his intricate ceiling frescoes found in several churches throughout Germany.
In the realm of literature, Mattheus van Keulen was a Dutch cartographer and publisher who lived from 1634 to 1692. He produced highly detailed and influential nautical charts and maps, contributing significantly to the advancement of cartography during the Golden Age of Dutch exploration.
Mattheus Derengodt, a Flemish painter and engraver who lived from 1694 to 1759, was renowned for his religious paintings and engravings, many of which adorned churches and monasteries throughout the Low Countries.
Lastly, Mattheus Lotter, a German cartographer and engraver who lived from 1717 to 1779, was known for his highly detailed and accurate maps of various regions, including Germany, France, and Italy.
These individuals, spanning various fields and time periods, exemplify the rich history and diverse cultural influences associated with the name Mattheus. While its origins can be traced back to the early days of Christianity, the name has transcended its religious roots and become a part of the global cultural tapestry.
People
Mattheus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mattheus 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
Mattheus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mattheus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 212 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mattheus 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 1,616,766 US residents.
Is Mattheus a common name?
We classify Mattheus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 214 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mattheus most popular?
The single biggest year for Mattheus was 2007, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mattheus is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mattheus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 231 people with the name Mattheus, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,041 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 Mattheus 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 Mattheus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mattheus appears almost entirely male. Of the 230 people counted with this name, 99.1% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Mattheus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mattheus is White at 56.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.6%) and Black (8.7%). 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 Mattheus most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mattheus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.7% (131 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 Mattheus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mattheus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mattheus 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 Mattheus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mattheus 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 Mattheus 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 Mattheus?
Find out how many people share the name Mattheus on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.