Mathius
A Latin masculine name derived from Matthew, meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 214 living Americans carry the first name Mathius. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mathius today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mathius births was 2009 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mathius. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
214
~ 1 in 1,601,656 Americans
Peak year
2009
17 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,793
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Mathius: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mathius from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 96 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mathius remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mathius by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mathius during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mathius
The name Mathius is derived from the Latin name Matthaeus, which in turn originates from the Hebrew name Mattityahu. The name Mattityahu is a compound of the Hebrew words "mattat" meaning "gift" and "Yah" referring to the Hebrew God. It can be translated to mean "gift of God" or "God's gift".
Matthaeus was a common name among early Christians, particularly in the 1st century AD. It was the name given to one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, known as Matthew the Evangelist. The Gospel of Matthew, one of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament, is attributed to this apostle.
The earliest recorded use of the name Mathius can be traced back to the 4th century AD. It was a variant spelling commonly used in the medieval period, particularly in the Germanic regions of Europe. The name was popular among the Franks and other Germanic tribes who had converted to Christianity.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Mathius was Mathius Platearius, a 12th-century Italian physician and botanist from Salerno. He was known for his work on medicinal plants and is considered one of the founders of the Salernitan medical tradition.
Another prominent figure in history with the name Mathius was Mathius Corvinus, also known as Matthias Hunyadi, who was the King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. He was a renowned military leader and played a significant role in the defense of Europe against the Ottoman Empire.
In the 16th century, Mathius Vlacich, also known as Matthias Flacius Illyricus, was a Croatian scholar and one of the key figures of the Lutheran Reformation. He was a prominent theologian and a critic of the Catholic Church.
During the 17th century, Mathius Galenus, a Dutch jurist and professor of law at the University of Groningen, was a notable figure who made contributions to the development of Dutch law.
In the 18th century, Mathius van Bree, a Flemish painter and engraver, was renowned for his portraits and religious works. He was a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and had a successful career as an artist.
People
Mathius + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mathius as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mathius: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mathius?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 214 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mathius going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,601,656 US residents.
Is Mathius a common name?
We classify Mathius as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 216 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mathius most popular?
The single biggest year for Mathius was 2009, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mathius is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mathius in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mathius a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mathius in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Mathius still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mathius in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mathius can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Mathius?
Find out how many people have the name Mathius on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.