Mattis
A masculine name of Swedish origin meaning "gift of God."
Name Census estimates that about 448 living Americans carry the first name Mattis. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mattis today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mattis births was 2018 (78 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mattis. 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
448
~ 1 in 765,077 Americans
Peak year
2018
78 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,268
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Mattis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mattis from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 303 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mattis remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mattis 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 Mattis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mattis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Mattis, while Virginia, North Carolina, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mattis
The name Mattis is derived from the Hebrew name Mattityahu, which means "gift of God." The name has its roots in the ancient Middle Eastern region and can be traced back to biblical times.
The earliest recorded use of the name Mattis dates back to the 1st century AD, when it was mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible as the name of one of Jesus Christ's disciples, Matthias. In the book of Acts, Matthias was chosen by the remaining eleven apostles to replace Judas Iscariot as the twelfth apostle.
During the Middle Ages, the name Mattis gained popularity across Europe, particularly in Germanic and Scandinavian regions. It was often used as a shortened form of Mattityahu or other similar names, such as Matthäus or Matthias.
One of the earliest notable historical figures to bear the name Mattis was Matthias I (1557-1619), who was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1612 until his death. He was a member of the House of Habsburg and played a significant role in the Counter-Reformation and the Thirty Years' War.
Another prominent individual with the name Mattis was Matthias Claudius (1740-1815), a German poet and writer who is best known for his works such as "The Messenger of Heaven" and "The Watchman's Song."
In more recent history, General James Mattis (born 1950) gained widespread recognition as the 26th United States Secretary of Defense from 2017 to 2019. He had a distinguished military career, serving in the Persian Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.
Other notable individuals with the name Mattis include Matthias Sindelar (1903-1939), an Austrian footballer and one of the greatest players of the interwar period, and Matthias Schmid (born 1958), a German violinist and conductor known for his interpretations of Baroque music.
Overall, the name Mattis has a rich history spanning across various cultures and time periods, with its origins rooted in the ancient Hebrew language and biblical references.
People
Mattis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mattis 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
Mattis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mattis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 448 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mattis 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 765,077 US residents.
Is Mattis a common name?
We classify Mattis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 451 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mattis most popular?
The single biggest year for Mattis was 2018, when 78 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mattis is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mattis a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mattis 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.
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.