Matthew Smith
There are approximately 12,830 people named Matthew Smith living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 26,715 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Matthew with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Smith. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
12,830
1 in 26,715
Named Matthew
1.5M
Alive today
Named Smith
2.8M
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 1.5M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1983
Average age: 37
Estimated bearers: 2.8M
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #1
Per 100K: 828.19
Top ancestry: White (70.9%)
First name trend
Matthew: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Matthew. The peak year was 1983 with 50,525 births. The average person named Matthew today is 37 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Smith surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Smith, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 70.9%.
- White70.9%
- Black or African American23.1%
- Hispanic or Latino2.4%
- Two or more races2.2%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Matthew has a living-bearer frequency of 0.4520% of the US population, based on 1,549,178 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Smith appears at a rate of 828.19 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.8282%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 12,830 people with the full name Matthew Smith. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Matthew
Related
Other people with the surname Smith
FAQ
Matthew Smith: questions and answers
How many people are named Matthew Smith?
We estimate approximately 12,830 people in the United States share the full name Matthew Smith. That works out to about 1 in 26,715 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.4520%) with the surname frequency (828.19 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Matthew Smith?
We classify Matthew Smith as "Uncommon". About 1 in 26,715 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Matthew a male or female name?
Matthew is predominantly male. Out of 1,652,565 total SSA registrations, 99.7% were male and 0.3% were female. See the full Matthew profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.