Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Matthew?
Births per year, rank history and how many Matthews are alive today.
Matthew (male) sits just outside the top 100 boys' names in England and Wales, ranked 153rd in 2025 with 353 babies given the name. This spelling of the name peaked in 1984, when around 9,900 babies were given the name, the 6th most popular that year. Matthew fell out of the published rankings after 1914 and returned in 1964, a classic revival pattern. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 410,000 babies have been named Matthew in England and Wales since 1904. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Matthew is one spelling of a name also recorded as Mathew; the combined figures below cover every spelling. Common short forms of Matthew include Matt.
Across all spellings of the name, the Matthew you are most likely to meet is around 41 years old. Half of all Matthews born in England and Wales are between 31 and 51, and there are at least 360,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 70% chance that at least one of them will be called Matthew.
How many babies are named Matthew each year?
Includes all spellings: Matthew, Mathew. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Matthew spelling rank?
Where does the Mathew spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Matthew most popular?
Matthew peaked in 1984, when around 9,900 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Matthew?
At least 360,000 people named Matthew in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Matthew?
Most living Matthews are between 31 and 51; the most common age is about 41.
Is Matthew becoming more or less popular?
Declining: numbers have been falling in recent years.