Mati

Meaning & origin

Mati is a unisex name that entered U.S. records in 2001 and has maintained a stable but low profile. It ranked 11,932 in 2025, with an estimated 1 in 229,610 newborns receiving the name. Its peak year was 2013, though it has never broken into the top 1,000. The name's flexibility and cross-cultural appeal likely contribute to its steady use. In Estonia, Mati is a traditional masculine given name, but in the U.S., it is used for all genders. Despite its rarity, Mati has appeared in enough births to register consistently.

Mati has multiple possible origins. In the English-speaking world, it is often used as a nickname or short form for Matias, Mateo, or Matilda, though it can stand alone as a given name. In Estonia, Mati is a traditional given name, said to derive from an old folk name meaning "bear" (related to the Estonian word 'matti'). Outside of Estonia, the name has seen modern use in the United States since the early 2000s, likely as a creative variant of Matti or a unisex alternative to Mateo.