Holding steady.
Popularity of Mettie since 1880
Babies named Mettie per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1918, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Mettie's real moment was 1891.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 129 |
| 1890s | 202 |
| 1900s | 165 |
| 1910s | 174 |
| 1920s | 180 |
| 1930s | 114 |
| 1940s | 67 |
| 1950s | 0 |
| 1960s | 0 |
| 1970s | 0 |
| 1980s | 0 |
| 1990s | 0 |
| 2000s | 0 |
| 2010s | 0 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Mettie first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1880, the earliest year of Social Security data, and reached its peak popularity in 1891, when it was most common. The name has remained stable in its very low usage since then, with no signs of revival. Mettie belongs to a cluster of late-19th-century diminutives (Nettie, Hattie, Lettie) that were fashionable in the 1890s but fell out of favor. It was never recorded in the top 1000 after the 1950s, reflecting the broader trend away from -ie ending nicknames as formal given names.
Mettie emerged in the late 19th century as an American English diminutive, likely a variant of Mattie (a pet form of Martha or Matilda) or a nickname for names like Margaret or Metcalf. It saw peak usage in the 1890s, particularly in the southern United States, but declined sharply after the early 20th century.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Met
Sibling names for Mettie
Names that share Mettie's style, for a brother or sister.
