Matie
A Dutch diminutive form of the feminine name Matilda, meaning "battle-mighty".
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Matie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Matie today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Matie births was 1884 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Matie. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Matie is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Maties were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Matie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
1884
26 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
2009 SSA rank
#19,185
Tracked since 1880
Census
Matie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 206 people with the first name Matie, which placed it at #37,688 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#37,688
National first-name rank
People counted
206
206 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Matie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Matie is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.0%) and Black (14.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Matie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Matie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.2% · 124
- Hispanic or Latino17.0% · 35
- Black or African American14.6% · 30
- Two or more races3.4% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 4
Popularity
Matie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Matie from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1880s, with 164 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1880s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Matie 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 Matie 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 Matie
The name Matie has its origins in the Dutch language and culture, with records dating back to the 17th century. It is believed to be a diminutive form of the name Maria, derived from the Latin name Marius, meaning "male" or "masculine".
In the Netherlands, the name Matie was commonly used as a nickname or pet name for Maria, particularly among the Dutch-speaking population. It gained popularity during the Dutch Golden Age, a period of immense cultural and economic prosperity in the Netherlands from the late 16th to the late 17th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Matie can be found in the Dutch East India Company's archives, where a woman named Matie Jansdochter is mentioned in a document dated 1671. She was a resident of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) during the Dutch colonial era.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Matie. One such person was Matie Levi (1867-1941), a Dutch writer and activist who campaigned for women's rights and social reforms in the Netherlands.
Another notable figure was Matie Groenen (1856-1929), a Belgian author and poet who wrote extensively in the Flemish dialect. Her works were celebrated for their vivid depictions of rural life and the struggles of the working class.
In the United States, Matie Heyser (1868-1945) was a prominent businesswoman and philanthropist from Louisiana. She was actively involved in various charitable organizations and played a significant role in promoting education and social welfare initiatives in her community.
Moving to South Africa, Matie Magdalena van Schalkwyk (1874-1962) was a renowned Afrikaans writer and poet. Her works, which often explored themes of love, nature, and the Afrikaner identity, contributed significantly to the development of Afrikaans literature in the early 20th century.
Finally, in Australia, Matie Wilkinson (1875-1955) was a pioneering female doctor and activist. She was one of the first women to graduate from the University of Melbourne's medical program and dedicated her life to improving healthcare access for women and children in rural communities.
While the name Matie may not be as commonly used today as it once was, its historical significance and the remarkable individuals who bore this name have left an indelible mark on various cultures and societies around the world.
People
Matie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Matie 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
Matie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Matie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Matie 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Matie a common name?
We classify Matie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 579 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Matie most popular?
The single biggest year for Matie was 1884, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Matie is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Matie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 206 people with the name Matie, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,688 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Matie in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Matie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Matie leans strongly female. 191 people counted with this name were female (91.4%), compared with 18 male bearers (8.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Matie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Matie is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.0%) and Black (14.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Matie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Matie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.2% (124 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Matie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Matie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Matie in the SSA data are female. 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 Matie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Matie 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 Matie 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.
How many people are named Matie?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.