Mathias
Meaning
variant of Matthias, "gift of God"
The story
Mathias is the single-t spelling of Matthias, from the Hebrew Mattityahu, gift of God. The New Testament Matthias is the apostle chosen by lot in the Book of Acts to fill the place left by Judas, which makes him the one apostle who arrives by drawing lots rather than by invitation. The single-t form is the everyday spelling across Scandinavia and much of German-speaking Europe, and that is how it reached American records early. It shows up in the 1890s and never quite disappears, staying under four hundred boys a decade for its first eighty years. Then it climbs, and it has not stopped. The 2010s were its strongest decade on record, and the 2020s have already passed them with the decade only half counted. Mathias is that rare biblical name more popular now than at any point in its American history.
Mathias around the world
One shared root links 8 names across 5 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Mattityahu "gift of Yahweh", via Greek Matthaios
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Mathias peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
13,376 people · the #1,384 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 15,152 · median age 6
Among people named Mathias living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 4,878 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Mathias
Most people given the name Mathias in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Mathias deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Mathias truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Mathias fits with your family’s names and surname.
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