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The surname Matthew

A patronymic surname, carried by 6,436 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈmæθjuː/ 2 syllables Soundex M300 Also a first name

Matthew: #5,408 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Matthew #5,408, 6,436 people Matthew: #5,408 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Matthew #5,408, 6,436 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Matthew is more common than 96.7% of them.

Origin

From earlier Matheu, from Old French Mathieu, from Latin Matthaeus, from Ancient Greek Ματθαῖος (Matthaîos), from Aramaic מַתַּי (mattay). Compare Hebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ (mattiṯyāhū, literally “gift of the Lord”). Doublet of Mattathias.

Matthew is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 6,436 people named Matthew in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 47,972 Americans. That is down 0.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 6,486.

#5,408
rank among US surnames
6,436
people in 2010
2.2
per 100,000 Americans
-0.8%
change since 2000 (was #4,971)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#5,399Eberhardt6,45047,868
#5,400Rounds6,44747,890
#5,401Abad6,44647,897
#5,402Walther6,44447,912
#5,403Payan6,44347,920
#5,404Messick6,44147,934
#5,405Abercrombie6,43947,949

Who is named Matthew

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

54% of people named Matthew identified as white (not Hispanic), 33% as Black (not Hispanic) and 5.7% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

  • White (not Hispanic) 54%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 33%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 5.7%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.8%
  • Two or more races 2.6%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Matthews

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • William Diller Matthew
    American paleontologist (1871–1930)
  • Scott Matthew
    Australian singer-songwriter, born 2000

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Surnames that sound like Matthew

Matthew has the Soundex code M300, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M300.

Questions

Where does the surname Matthew come from?
From earlier Matheu, from Old French Mathieu, from Latin Matthaeus, from Ancient Greek Ματθαῖος (Matthaîos), from Aramaic מַתַּי (mattay). Compare Hebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ (mattiṯyāhū, literally “gift of the Lord”). Doublet of Mattathias.
How common is the surname Matthew?
6,436 people in the United States had the surname Matthew in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 47,972 Americans. It ranked 5,408th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Matthew?
In the 2010 Census, 54% of people named Matthew identified as white (not Hispanic), and 33% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Matthew?
William Diller Matthew, American paleontologist (1871–1930), followed by Scott Matthew.
Where is the surname Matthew most common?
Wikidata records people named Matthew in the United States.
How do you pronounce Matthew?
Matthew is /ˈmæθjuː/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Matthew?
Matthew is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Matthew getting more or less common?
Less common. 6,486 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,436 in 2010, down 0.8%.
What are other spellings of Matthew?
Mathew.
Is Matthew also a first name?
Yes. Matthew is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.