Matthew

Where Matthew comes from

From earlier Matheu, from Old French Mathieu, from Latin Matthaeus, from Ancient Greek Ματθαῖος (Matthaîos), from Aramaic מַתַּי (mattay). Compare Hebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ (mattiṯyāhū, literally “gift of the Lord”). Doublet of Mattathias.
— Wiktionary's entry for Matthew
  • Hebrew
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #116 among boys — 113 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1969
    Matthew Perry born
    American-Canadian actor
  3. 1969
    Matthew McConaughey born
    American actor
  4. 1995
    Peak, #2
    32,882 babies named Matthew — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2009
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #13.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
Namesakes
  • Matthew McConaughey · American actor, born 1969
  • Matthew Perry · American-Canadian actor, 1969–2023
  • Matthew Arnold · British poet and cultural critic, 1822–1888
  • Matthew Broderick · American actor, born 1962
  • Matthew Fox · American actor, born 1966

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.