Find out how popular the last name Mather is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Mather.

Mather, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Mather surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mather in America

Mather is the 4652nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mather surname appeared 7,621 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Mather.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mather to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Mather

The surname Mather is of English origin and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from an occupational name for a maker of mats or matting, which comes from the Old English word "matt" meaning "mat" or "matting." The name was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Mattere."

During the 13th century, the surname appeared in various records with different spellings such as Mathar, Mathare, and Mather. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is John le Mather, who was mentioned in the Assize Rolls of Yorkshire in 1219.

The Mather family had a strong presence in Lancashire and Yorkshire, where several place names were derived from the surname, including Mather, a township in the parish of Whalley, Lancashire. The name was also found in other parts of England, such as Nottinghamshire and Suffolk.

Notable individuals with the surname Mather include:

1. Richard Mather (1596-1669), an influential Puritan minister in colonial Massachusetts and one of the founders of the Congregational church in New England.

2. Increase Mather (1639-1723), a Puritan minister and author who served as the president of Harvard College from 1685 to 1701.

3. Cotton Mather (1663-1728), a Puritan minister and influential figure in the Salem Witch Trials. He was also a prolific author and is known for his work "Magnalia Christi Americana."

4. Samuel Mather (1626-1671), a Puritan minister and president of Harvard College from 1685 to 1687.

5. William Williams Mather (1804-1859), an American businessman and industrialist who founded the Mather Iron Works in Cleveland, Ohio.

Throughout history, the Mather surname has been associated with individuals who made significant contributions to religious, academic, and industrial fields, particularly in England and colonial America.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mather

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Mather.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Mather was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Mather has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

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

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

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