Gender Masculine
Pronounced Pron. /ˈmæθ.juː/(English)  [key·simplify]

Meaning & History

English form of Ματθαῖος (Matthaios), which is the New Testament Greek form of Mattithiah. Matthew, probably also called Levi, was one of the twelve apostles. He was a tax collector, and supposedly the author of the first gospel in the New Testament. He is considered a saint in many Christian traditions. The variant Matthias also occurs in the New Testament belonging to a separate apostle.

As an English given name, Matthew has been in use since the Middle Ages. It became popular throughout the English-speaking world around the middle of the 20th century, ranked near the top of the popularity lists for boys in the 1980s and 90s. A notable bearer was the American naval officer Matthew C. Perry (1794-1858), who led an expedition to Japan. Famous modern bearers include the actors Matthew Broderick (1962-), Matthew McConaughey (1969-) and Matthew Perry (1969-2023).

Related Names

VariantMathew(English)
DiminutivesMat, Matt, Mattie, Matty(English)
Other Languages & CulturesMatevos(Armenian) Matia(Basque) Mattathias, Matthaios, Matthias(Biblical Greek) Mattanyahu, Mattithyahu, Mattityahu, Netanyahu(Biblical Hebrew) Mattheus, Matthias(Biblical Latin) Mazhe, Mahé(Breton) Matey(Bulgarian) Mateu(Catalan) Matej, Mateo, Mate, Matija, Matko, Mato(Croatian) Matouš, Matěj, Matyáš(Czech) Mads, Mathias(Danish) Mathijs, Matthias, Matthijs, Thijs, Ties, Tijs(Dutch) Mati, Madis, Mattias(Estonian) Matti, Matias(Finnish) Mahé, Matéo, Mathéo, Mathieu, Mattéo, Matthieu, Mathias, Mathis, Mathys, Matis, Matthias(French) Mate(Georgian) Mathias, Mathis, Matthäus, Matthias, Mattis(German) Matthaios, Mattheos(Greek) Makaio(Hawaiian) Matityahu(Hebrew) Máté, Mátyás(Hungarian) Matthías(Icelandic) Maitiú(Irish) Matteo, Mattia(Italian) Matīss(Latvian) Matas, Motiejus(Lithuanian) Matej(Macedonian) Matheo, Matteus, Mathias, Mats, Mattis(Norwegian) Mateusz, Maciej(Polish) Mateus, Matias(Portuguese) Matheus(Portuguese (Brazilian)) Matei(Romanian) Matvei, Matvey, Matfey, Motya(Russian) Mateja, Matija(Serbian) Matúš, Matej(Slovak) Matej, Matevž, Matic, Matija, Matjaž, Tevž, Tjaž(Slovene) Mateo, Matías(Spanish) Matheo, Matteus, Mathias, Mats, Mattias, Mattis, Matts(Swedish) Matviy(Ukrainian)
Surname DescendantsMathews, Mathewson, Matthews, Matthewson(English)

People think this name is

classic   mature   formal   natural   wholesome   strong   refined   simple   serious  

Images

The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602), by CaravaggioThe Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602), by Caravaggio

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Entry updated October 6, 2024