How Many People Are Named Matthew?
An estimated 1,549,178 people in the United States have the first name Matthew, ranking it #11 among all first names. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 37 years old, and Matthew peaked in popularity in 1983 with 50,525 births that year. It has a similar number of bearers to Thomas (1,548,322).
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Matthew as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Matthew paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Matthew is overwhelmingly male, 5,575 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
1,549,178
About 1 in 221 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Common
Predicted Gender
Male
99.7% confidence
Average Age
37
years old
Peak Year
1983
50,525 births
Total Registered
1,652,565
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Matthew
Matthew is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 1,652,565 total births registered, 99.7% were male.
Matthew as a male name
Ranked #33 in 2024
7,078 male births in 2024
Peak: 1983 (50,208 births)
Matthew as a female name
Ranked #11,736 in 2024
8 female births in 2024
Peak: 1983 (317 births)
Matthew: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Matthew span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1980s, when 461,520 babies were registered. Matthew has declined significantly from its peak in the 1980s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Matthew by Decade
How has Matthew tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,068 | 1,068 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 1,132 | 1,132 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 1,188 | 1,188 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 6,233 | 6,228 | 5 | |
| 1920s | 8,587 | 8,566 | 21 | |
| 1930s | 6,268 | 6,255 | 13 | |
| 1940s | 8,775 | 8,760 | 15 | |
| 1950s | 35,864 | 35,800 | 64 | |
| 1960s | 106,282 | 105,943 | 339 | |
| 1970s | 278,984 | 277,752 | 1,232 | |
| 1980s | 461,520 | 458,953 | 2,567 | |
| 1990s | 352,408 | 351,673 | 735 | |
| 2000s | 222,009 | 221,620 | 389 | |
| 2010s | 125,222 | 125,067 | 155 | |
| 2020s | 37,025 | 36,985 | 40 | |
Matthew by State
Birth registrations for Matthew span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Texas. The lowest are in Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont. On average, about 32,264 Matthews were registered per state.
Matthew + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Matthew as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Matthew
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
Matthew: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Matthew?
We estimate approximately 1,549,178 people named Matthew are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 221 Americans share this first name.
Is Matthew a common name?
Matthew is classified as "Very Common" and is more popular than 100% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 1,652,565 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Matthew most popular?
Matthew reached peak popularity in 1983, when 50,525 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Matthew is approximately 37 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Matthew a male name?
Matthew is predominantly male. 99.7% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Matthew Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Matthew Smith, Matthew Johnson, Matthew Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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