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

Mathewson, 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 Mathewson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mathewson in America

Mathewson is the 9813th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mathewson surname appeared 3,299 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Mathewson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mathewson 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 Mathewson

The surname Mathewson is of English origin and is derived from the medieval given name Matthew, which itself is derived from the Hebrew name Mattithyahu, meaning "gift of Yahweh." The surname Mathewson evolved from the patronymic form of the name, which was originally "Matthew's son" or "son of Matthew."

The earliest recorded instances of the Mathewson surname date back to the 13th century in various parts of England, including Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk. In the Hundred Rolls of 1273, there is a record of a Richard Matheusson in Lincolnshire. The name also appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire in 1301, where a William Mathewson is listed.

During the medieval period, the Mathewson surname was often spelled in various ways, including Mathewson, Mathison, Matthewson, and Mathuson, reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions of the time. Some notable early bearers of the name include John Mathewson, who was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire in 1379, and Thomas Mathewson, who was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327.

The Mathewson surname has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest was Sir Edward Mathewson (c. 1535-1589), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Brackley during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. In the 17th century, Reverend John Mathewson (1639-1687) was a prominent Puritan minister in Boston, Massachusetts, and a leader of the New England Congregationalist Church.

In more recent times, the Mathewson surname has been borne by several accomplished individuals, including Christy Mathewson (1880-1925), a celebrated American baseball pitcher who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. Another notable bearer of the name was Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (1840-1916), an American-British inventor best known for his pioneering work on the Maxim machine gun.

Other notable individuals with the Mathewson surname include James Mathewson (1805-1882), a Scottish-American businessman and politician who served as the Mayor of New York City from 1866 to 1868, and Robert Mathewson (1853-1912), a Canadian financier and philanthropist who co-founded the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mathewson

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

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 Mathewson 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 Mathewson 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 Mathewson was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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