# Matilda (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/matilda/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “matilda” |
| Pronunciation | /məˈtɪldə/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Tilly, Mattie, Tilda, Tillie |
| Variant spellings | Mathilda |
| US babies named this | 37,280 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 10 / 37,270 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 31,414, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Matilda, from Old French Mathilde, from Old High German Mahthilt, Mehthilt, from Proto-West Germanic *Mahtihild, from Proto-Germanic *Mahtihildiz; compare German Mechthild, Old English Mæþhild (“Matilda”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 353 | 771 |
| 2012 | 433 | 657 |
| 2013 | 437 | 648 |
| 2014 | 523 | 582 |
| 2015 | 583 | 537 |
| 2016 | 631 | 496 |
| 2017 | 599 | 522 |
| 2018 | 643 | 489 |
| 2019 | 696 | 448 |
| 2020 | 640 | 478 |
| 2021 | 673 | 466 |
| 2022 | 758 | 417 |
| 2023 | 708 | 439 |
| 2024 | 773 | 411 |
| 2025 | 838 | 365 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1885 | 5 | 1,036 |
| 1922 | 5 | 4,725 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,225 | 48 |
| 2012 | 1,284 | 47 |
| 2013 | 1,446 | 36 |
| 2014 | 1,440 | 36 |
| 2015 | 1,774 | 27 |
| 2016 | 1,915 | 25 |
| 2017 | 1,736 | 27 |
| 2018 | 1,618 | 31 |
| 2019 | 1,563 | 30 |
| 2020 | 1,401 | 29 |
| 2021 | 1,437 | 28 |
| 2022 | 1,363 | 29 |
| 2023 | 1,212 | 30 |
| 2024 | 1,220 | 31 |
| 2025 | 1,449 | 19 |

## In other languages

- Chinese: 瑪蒂爾達 /玛蒂尔达
- Czech: Matylda
- Danish: Mathilde
- Esperanto: Matilda
- Finnish: Matilda
- French: Mathilde
- German: Mathilde, Mechthild
- Greek: Ματθίλδη
- Hungarian: Matild, Matilda
- Italian: Matilde
- Norwegian: Mathilde
- Polish: Matylda
- Portuguese: Matilde, Matilda
- Russian: Мати́льда
- Spanish: Matilde
- Swedish: Matilda

## People named Matilda

- Matilda Joslyn Gage, American writer, Native American civil rights activist, abolitionist, freethinker
- Matilda Ziegler, British actress
- Matilda Smith, British botanical illustrator and botanist (1854-1926)
- Carrie Matilda Derick, Canadian botanist and geneticist (1862-1941)
- Matilda Hays, British journalist, translator, editor (1820-1897)
- Matilda of Brabant, Countess of Holland
- Matilda Betham-Edwards, English novelist, travel writer, poet and children's writer (1836-1919)
- Martha Matilda Harper, Canadian-American entrepreneur (1857-1950)
- Matilda Rapaport, extreme skier (1986-2016)
- Matilda Browne, American painter (1869-1947)
- Matilda Chaplin Ayrton, English midwife and physician (1846-1883)
- Matilda Coxe Stevenson, ethnologist (1849-1915)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.