Matthew (name)

Matthew
Gender	Male
Origin
Word/name	Hebrew
Meaning	"Gift of Yahweh"[1]
Other names
Alternative spelling	Mathew
Nickname(s)	Matt, Mat, Matty, Mattie, Macey,[2] Hew
Usage	Most Common usage of Matthew or Mathew in the English-speaking world[3]
Related names	Mathers, Matthews, Matthewson, Mathew, Matt, Matty, Maddy, Matilda, Matthias, Mathias, Thew, Hew, Bartholomew, Mitt, Macey, Mace, May, Mayhew
Popularity	see popular names

Look up Matthew in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Matthew (/ˈmæθjuː/; MATH-ew) is a given name that ultimately comes from the Hebrew name Matityahu. Saint Matthew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus in Christian Theology.^[4][5][6][7]

The Hebrew name "מַתִּתְיָהוּ" (Matityahu) was transliterated into Greek to "Ματταθίας" (Mattathias),^[8] which was shortened to "Ματθαῖος" – (Matthaios). Deceptively, it is therefore unrelated to θεῖος (theios) meaning divine (adjective, e.g. theology) or sulfur (Koine noun, e.g. thiol group).^[9] The Greek Ματθαῖος was Latinised as Matthaeus, which became Matthew in English. It is commonly shortened to Matt.

The name is also sometimes used as an anglicisation of the Irish name Mathúin, meaning bear.^[10][11]

The name Matthew became popular during the Middle Ages in North-West Europe, and appears in many European languages. The name has been very common throughout the English-speaking world since the 1970s.^[3] Matthew has been one of the 1,000 most popular male names in Australia, Canada and United States. Currently, it is the 15th most popular name in Ireland.^[12][13] In the United Kingdom, it was among the 10 most popular male names through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and was ninth as recently as 2001.^[14]

Translations in other languages

• Afrikaans: Mattheus (Mattie)

• Amharic: ማቴዎስ^? (Mathewos, Mateos)

• Arabic: متى ‎ (Mattà)

• Aramaic: Mattai‎

• Armenian: Մատթէոս, Մաթևոս (Mat.teos)

• Azerbaijani: Matta, Mətta

• Basque: Mateo

• Belarusian: Мацей (Maciej)

• Bulgarian: Матей (Matej)

• Breton: Mazhev

• Catalan: Mateu

• Chinese: 马修 (simplified) ／馬修 (traditional) (mǎ xiū)

• Croatian: Matej, Matija, Mate, Mato

• Czech: Matěj, Matyáš, Matouš

• Danish: Mads, Mathias

• Dutch: Matthijs, Mathis, Mathijs, Mattijs, Mattheus, Matthias, Thijs, Ties, Tijs

• English: Matthew, Mathew, Matthias, Matt, Matty, Mattie
• Old English: Mattheus
• Esperanto: Mateo
• Estonian: Madis, Mati
• Finnish: Matias, Matti
• French: Mathieu, Matthieu; Mathias, Matthias; Mathis, Matthis
• Georgian: მათე (Mate)
• Galician: Mateu
• German: Matthias, Mathias, Matthäus
• Greek: Ματθαίος (Matthaios, Mattheos)
• Koine Greek: Ματθαῖος (Matthaios, Mattheos)
• Hebrew: מתתיהו ,מתיתיהו ‎ (Matityahu)
• Gujarati: મેથ્યુ (Mēthyu)
• Hindi: मैथ्यू (Maithyū)
• Hungarian: Máté, Mátyás
• Icelandic: Matthías, Matti
• Indonesian: Matius, Mateus
• Irish: Maitiú, Maitias
• Italian: Matteo, Mattia
• Japanese: マシュー (Mashū), マタイ (Matai)
• Kannada: ಮ್ಯಾಥ್ಯೂ (Myāthyū)
• Khmer: ម៉ាថាយ (Meathay)
• Korean: 매튜 (Maetyu), 마태 (Matae)
• Latin: Matthæus, Matthias
• Latvian: Matīss, Matejs
• Lithuanian: Matas, Motiejus
• Macedonian: Метју (Metju), Матеј (Matej)
• Maltese: Mattew
• Marathi: मॅथ्यू (Mĕthyū)
• Malayalam: മത്തായി (Matthayi)
• Mongolian: Матай (Matai)
• Nepali: मत्ती (Mattī)
• Norwegian: Mathias, Mattias; Matheus, Matteus; Mats, Mads; Mattis
• Polish: Mateusz, Maciej
• Portuguese: Matias, Mathias (archaic); Mateus, Matheus (archaic)
• Punjabi: ਮੱਤੀ (Matī)
• Romanian: Matei, Matia
• Russian: Матвей (Matvej), Матфей (Matfej)(archaic), Мотя (Motja), Мотка (Motka), Мэтью (Met'yu)
• Serbian: Матија (Matija), Матеја (Matеja)
• Slovak: Matúš, Matej
• Swahili: Matayo
• Scottish Gaelic: Matha, Mata
• Spanish: Matias, Matheo, Mateo, Matejo, Teo
• Swedish: Mats, Mattias, Mathias
• Slovene: Matej, Matevž, Matjaž, Matija
• Turkish: Matta, Mete
• Tamil: மத்தேயு (Mattēyu)
• Telugu: మట్టయ్య(Mattayya)
• Thai: แมทธิว (Mæthṭhiw)
• Ukrainian: Матей (Matej), Матвій (Matvij), Матвійко (Matvijko)
• Venetian: Mateo
• Vietnamese: Mátthêu
• Welsh: Mathew
• Zazaki: Matta

References