Matina
Torn between Matina and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
love in Nepal Bhasa, the Newar language of the Kathmandu Valley; famously borne by Matina Shakya, Kathmandu's Kumari, its living goddess, from 2008 to 2017
The story
Matina is two names that happen to share a spelling. In Nepal Bhasa, the Newar language of the Kathmandu Valley, matina means love, and the name became internationally visible when Matina Shakya was chosen in 2008 as Kathmandu's Kumari, the living goddess venerated through childhood. In Greece, Matina is an affectionate short form of Stamatina, from a verb meaning to stop, a name traditionally tied to wishes for a child who stays. The two traditions are unrelated, and a family reaching for either one stands on solid ground. The US curve shows a quiet presence from the 2000s through the 2020s, small enough that most American Matinas can expect to explain their name, whichever story it carries. Between a living goddess and a grandmother's diminutive, it holds more history than its size suggests.
How popular is Matina around the world?
In the United States, 10 babies were named Matina between 2020 and 2025. In Austria, 1 girl named Matina was born in 2025, ranked 1,875th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
Matina is on the official records of the United States, Austria and Brazil.
United States
1 in 2.2M
In the United States, 10 babies were named Matina between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Matina has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 girl named Matina was born in 2025, ranked 1,875th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 117 people in Brazil were named Matina, ranked 36,897th, with a median age of 23.
Among people named Matina living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Argentina
last on record 2022
Matina is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Canada
last on record 2019
Matina is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
South Australia
last on record 2015
Matina is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Matina
People given the name Matina in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1960 to 1999. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Matina deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Matina 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 Matina fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Matina fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Matina to your family’s tree →