Matthew

Meaning & origin

For an entire American generation, Matthew was simply what boys were named. It crested in 1983, when it sat near the very top of the national list, and men named Matt now anchor every workplace and fantasy-football league in the country. The name has been easing downward since 1985, but the descent has been remarkably orderly: as of 2025 it still ranks No. 32, with about one in every 244 newborn boys receiving it.

That slow glide is the signature of a true classic. Unlike trend names that fall off a cliff once their moment passes, Matthew has a floor built from four centuries of continuous English use, an apostle's pedigree, and the frictionless nickname Matt. Its Spanish and Italian cousins Mateo and Matteo are meanwhile booming, which keeps the underlying name fresh in American ears even as the English form recedes.

Geographically Matthew shows no strong regional accent, with its best showings scattered from Alaska to Connecticut to Florida, the fingerprint of a name that belongs to everyone and no one in particular. Parents choosing it today are buying predictability in the best sense: a name every teacher can spell and no decade can claim outright.

Matthew descends from the Hebrew Mattityahu, "gift of Yahweh," which passed through Greek as Matthaios and Latin as Matthaeus before arriving in English via the Old French Mathieu after the Norman Conquest. Its defining bearer is the apostle Matthew, the tax collector (also called Levi) traditionally credited with the first Gospel. The name was common throughout the English Middle Ages, surnames like Matthews and Mayhew grew out of it, and never really left use afterward. Its modern American chapter is the striking one: Matthew surged in the postwar decades to become one of the signature boys' names of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, peaking in 1983 before beginning a long, gentle descent in 1985.

Read more: Matthew on Wikipedia