Matthew · Daily fortune

Matthew is a masculine English and biblical name. Behind the Name calls it the English form of Greek Ματθαῖος (Matthaios), the New Testament form of Mattithiah, and files it under the roots mattaṯ plus the divine name Yahweh; Wikipedia gives the meaning as "Gift of God" and traces Hebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ (Matityahu) through Greek and Latin Matthaeus into English. Matthew was one of the twelve apostles — a tax collector, supposedly the author of the first gospel. The name has been used in English since the Middle Ages and ranked near the top of the American boys' lists in the 1980s and 90s. In 2025 it ranked #32.

Behind the Name describes Matthew as the "English form of Ματθαῖος (Matthaios), which is the New Testament Greek form of Mattithiah", and lists the roots as mattaṯ + Yahweh. Wikipedia completes the chain and supplies the gloss: "The Hebrew name מַתִּתְיָהוּ (Matityahu) was transliterated into Greek as Ματταθίας (Mattathias)", superseded by Ματθαῖος (Matthaios), Latinised as Matthaeus and ending as English Matthew; it gives the meaning as "Gift of God". The two sources agree on every step. The first element, mattaṯ, is the Hebrew word for a gift; the second is the divine name — so "gift of Yahweh" is a literal reading rather than an interpretation, unlike the paraphrases attached to many names.

The name's spread is apostolic. Behind the Name records that Matthew was one of the twelve apostles, a tax collector, supposedly the author of the first gospel in the New Testament, and a saint in many Christian traditions; Wikipedia credits him directly with the name's diffusion through Christian communities. Behind the Name dates English use of the given name to the Middle Ages, and Wikipedia adds that the name became popular in northwest Europe during that period and "has been very common throughout the English-speaking world". Its modern American peak is well documented: Behind the Name says it became popular throughout the English-speaking world around the middle of the 20th century and ranked near the top of the boys' popularity lists in the 1980s and 90s. Notable bearers Behind the Name names include the American naval officer Matthew C. Perry (1794–1858), who led an expedition to Japan, and the actors Matthew Broderick, Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Perry.

Matthew ranked #32 for boys in the United States in 2025 (Social Security Administration) — well down from the near-top position Behind the Name records for the 1980s and 90s, but still comfortably inside the top 50 a generation later. Wikipedia describes it as consistently among the top male names in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Canada and the United States, though no ranking outside the US was fetched for this profile.

Behind the Name gives one pronunciation, English /ˈmæθ.juː/. The name has an unusually large family of foreign forms — several of which, notably Mateo and Matteo, are now popular American names in their own right. The forms below are from Behind the Name's "Other Languages & Cultures" list; their pronunciations were not verified in this pass.

Matthew is a biblical classic that spent long enough at the top of the charts to acquire a generation stamp: in the United States it reads as both a New Testament name and a name belonging to men born between roughly 1975 and 2000. That is not necessarily a drawback — it makes the name familiar and unremarkable in the best sense, with a short form (Matt) that is about as low-friction as English offers. Parents who want the meaning and the biblical lineage without the 1980s association usually move sideways to Mateo, Matteo or Mathias, all of which are the same name in another language.

Only bearers named in the two sources consulted for this profile are listed.

Names that share Matthew's apostolic register, its "gift of God" meaning, or its international forms.