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

Matt, 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 Matt surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Matt in America

Matt is the 7658th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Matt surname appeared 4,337 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 Matt.

We can also compare 2010 data for Matt 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 Matt

The surname Matt is believed to have originated in Germany, where it first appeared in the 12th century. It is thought to be derived from the Germanic personal name Matthias or Matthew, which means "gift of God." This name was popularized by the biblical apostle Matthew.

In its earliest recorded forms, the surname was spelled Matth, Matte, or Matto. It was initially found in the northern German regions of Mecklenburg and Pomerania, as well as in parts of modern-day Poland and the Czech Republic. The name may have been adopted by families living in these areas who had ancestors named Matthew or Matthias.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Matt is found in the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of historical documents from the former Margraviate of Brandenburg, dating back to the 13th century. This document mentions a certain "Henricus Matt" from the town of Prenzlau in the year 1281.

Another notable early bearer of the surname was Johann Matt, a German Protestant reformer and theologian who lived from 1492 to 1551. He was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation and served as a minister in the city of Wittenberg, where he was a close associate of Martin Luther.

In the 16th century, the surname also appeared in various records from the Duchy of Bavaria, indicating its spread across different regions of Germany. For example, a certain Christoph Matt is mentioned in the records of the city of Augsburg in 1568.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the surname Matt was also found in Switzerland, particularly in the canton of Zurich. One notable Swiss bearer of the name was Hans Rudolf Matt, a politician and diplomat who lived from 1663 to 1719. He served as the mayor of Zurich and represented the city in negotiations with foreign powers.

In the 19th century, the surname Matt began to appear in broader parts of Europe, likely due to increased migration and mobility. For instance, the Polish-German composer and pianist Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński, who lived from 1807 to 1867, was born with the surname Matt, which was later polonized to Dobrzyński.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Matt

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

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

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

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