NameCensus.
Very Rare

Motty

A diminutive of Mortimer, derived from French elements meaning "dead sea".

Name Census estimates that about 204 living Americans carry the first name Motty. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Motty today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Motty births was 2024 (32 babies).

This page is the full Name Census profile for Motty. 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 Motty with official rankings and popularity over time.

People living today

204

~ 1 in 1,680,168 Americans

Peak year

2024

32 babies that year

Average age

8

years old

2024 SSA rank

#3,563

Tracked since 2005

Popularity

Motty: popularity over time

The SSA tracks Motty from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 98 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.

Babies born per year

081624322005201020152020

Decades

Motty 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 Motty during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.

DecadeMaleFemaleTotal
2000s19019
2010s88088
2020s98098

Geography

Where Mottys live

Origin

Meaning and history of Motty

The name Motty has its origins in the Hebrew language and Jewish culture, with roots dating back to ancient times. It is believed to be a diminutive form of the name Mordechai, which means "warrior" or "servant of Marduk" in Akkadian. The name Marduk was the name of a prominent Babylonian deity, suggesting that Mordechai, and by extension Motty, may have been associated with the worship of this god in earlier eras.

One of the earliest and most notable references to the name Mordechai, from which Motty is derived, is found in the Biblical Book of Esther. Mordechai was the name of a Jewish courtier in the Persian empire who played a pivotal role in foiling a plot against the Jewish people. This account, which is believed to have taken place around the 5th century BCE, has made the name Mordechai, and its diminutive forms like Motty, a popular choice among Jewish families for centuries.

The earliest recorded example of the name Motty itself can be traced back to the 13th century CE, when it was used as a variant of Mordechai in various Jewish communities across Europe and the Middle East. One notable figure from this period was Rabbi Motty ben Yitzhak, a prominent Talmudic scholar who lived in Spain during the late 13th century.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Motty. One such figure was Motty Goldshteyyn, a Ukrainian-born American composer and conductor who lived from 1890 to 1955. He was known for his work in bringing Jewish and Yiddish music to wider audiences in the United States.

Another noteworthy individual was Motty Malka, an Israeli boxer who competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Born in 1937, Malka was a middleweight boxer who represented Israel in the Olympic Games.

In the realm of literature, Motty Rosenthal was a renowned Israeli author and poet who lived from 1919 to 2005. His works, which explored themes of identity, exile, and the human condition, earned him numerous accolades, including the prestigious Israel Prize for Literature in 1988.

Motty Berkowitz was a prominent American businessman and philanthropist, born in 1928. He co-founded the successful clothing company Garan Inc. and was known for his philanthropic efforts in supporting Jewish causes and educational institutions.

Lastly, Motty Steinmetz was an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) who served from 1981 to 1988. He was a member of the Likud party and held various ministerial positions during his political career.

People

Motty + last name combinations

How many people share a full name with Motty 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

Motty: questions and answers

How many people in the U.S. are named Motty?

Name Census puts the figure at roughly 204 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Motty 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 1,680,168 US residents.

Is Motty a common name?

We classify Motty as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 205 babies have been registered with this name.

When was Motty most popular?

The single biggest year for Motty was 2024, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Motty is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.

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 Motty in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.

Is Motty a male name?

Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Motty 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 Motty still being used today?

Yes. The SSA still recorded Motty 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 Motty 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.

Does every first name have Census demographic data?

No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.

How many people are called Motty?

You can see how many Americans are named Motty on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.

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There are 204 people

with the first name

Motty

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