2000
#2,736
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,100
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.49
Uncommon Last name
Matson
Derived from the name Matthew, meaning "gift of God," or from Matthias, meaning "gift of Yahweh."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 13,505 Americans carry the last name Matson. That puts it at #2,991 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.94 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 25,380 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Matson surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Matson with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
14K
1 in 25,380
Census rank
#2,991
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
12K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 11,777 bearers of the surname Matson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.94 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2991st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Matson, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Matson
The surname Matson originated in medieval England, derived from the Old English words "mat" meaning "meadow" and "sunu" meaning "son". It was a patronymic name given to the son of someone who lived near a meadow or grassy area.
The earliest known record of the name appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as "Matessone" in Yorkshire. This suggests that the name was already established in northern England by the late 11th century.
In the 13th century, the name is found spelled variously as "Mattessone", "Matyson", and "Mattyson" in various manorial records and tax rolls from counties like Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire. This indicates the name's prevalence across the northern and eastern regions of England.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Sir William Matson, a knight who fought alongside King Edward I in the Scottish Wars of Independence in the late 13th century. Another notable figure was John Matson, a wealthy merchant and alderman in the city of York, who lived from around 1380 to 1455.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name began to appear in various forms such as "Mattson", "Mattison", and "Mattinson" as it spread to other parts of Britain and eventually to the American colonies. One prominent bearer was Thomas Matson, a Puritan settler who arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 and later served as a representative in the colonial legislature.
In the 18th century, John Matson (1700-1772) was a notable English clergyman and author who served as the rector of St. Andrew's Church in Cambridge. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Benjamin Matson (1730-1814) was a Revolutionary War soldier from Pennsylvania who later became a prominent landowner and farmer.
As the name spread across the English-speaking world, it continued to be associated with various professions and fields. For example, in the 19th century, Hartvig Matson (1810-1875) was a Norwegian-American pioneer and businessman who founded the town of Matson, Wisconsin, while Nathaniel Matson (1842-1916) was an influential American journalist and publisher based in New York City.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Matson
Among Census respondents with the surname Matson, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Matson bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Matson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.9% · 10,472
- Two or more races3.9% · 461
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 402
- Black or African American1.8% · 213
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 135
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 94
Timeline
Historical Census data for Matson
Matson appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#2,911
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,320
+220 bearers (+1.8%)
Per 100,000 4.18
Rank movement Down 175 places
2020
#2,991
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,777
-543 bearers (-4.4%)
Per 100,000 3.94
Rank movement Down 80 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,736 | 12,100 | 4.49 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,911 | 12,320 | 4.18 | +220 bearers (+1.8%) | Down 175 places |
| 2020 | #2,991 | 11,777 | 3.94 | -543 bearers (-4.4%) | Down 80 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Matson surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,911 | #2,991 | -2.7% |
| Count | 12,320 | 11,777 | -4.4% |
| Per 100K | 4.18 | 3.94 | -5.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Matson bearers went from 12,320 to 11,777 (-4.4% change). The surname moved down 80 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,911 to #2,991.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Matson
FAQ
Matson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Matson?
Name Census estimates that about 13,505 living Americans carry the surname Matson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 25,380 residents.
How common is Matson?
Matson ranks #2,991 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.94 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 11,777 people with the surname Matson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (13,505), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.94 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.94 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Matson.
Has Matson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Matson went from 12,320 recorded bearers to 11,777. That is a decrease of 543 (-4.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,911 to #2,991.
What does the Census say about the background of Matson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Matson, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Hispanic (3.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Matson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.9% (10,472 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Matson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.9%), Two or More Races (3.9%), Hispanic (3.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Matson (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Matson mean?
Derived from the name Matthew, meaning "gift of God," or from Matthias, meaning "gift of Yahweh." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Matson (3.94 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Matson?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.