Matias
- Pronunciation
- [Ma-ti-as]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Gift Of God.
- Origin
- Spanish
About the Name Matias
Matias is the Spanish and Portuguese form of Matthias — itself a Greek/Latin variant of the Hebrew Mattityahu meaning "gift of Yahweh" (see separate entry on Matthew for the broader Hebrew etymology). The Matthias form specifically refers to the apostle Matthias, who was chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot among the twelve apostles after Judas's betrayal and death (Acts 1:23–26).
The Spanish/Portuguese form Matias has been used continuously in Spanish-speaking countries for over a millennium and is one of the popular boys' names across Latin American naming traditions. Notable bearers include 16th-century Hungarian-Hapsburg King Matthias I (Matthias Corvinus), Portuguese explorer Matias de Albuquerque, and contemporary Argentine soccer player Matías Almeyda.
The American Matias surge is part of the broader 21st-century resurgence in Spanish-language boys' names alongside Mateo, Lucas, and Sebastian. The name climbed from outside the US top 1000 in 2000 to the US top 200 boys' rank by 2018 and the top 200 since. The name's appeal sits in three contemporary American naming preferences: the layered Spanish-Portuguese-Christian biblical pedigree, the four flowing syllables, and the in-built apostolic register that distinguishes it from the over-saturated Matthew. The name reads as both classical and contemporary in Spanish-American naming. Common nicknames Mat, Mati, and the rare Matia each carry distinct registers; international forms include Matthias (English/German), Matías (Spanish, with accent), Matia (Italian), Mathias (French/Scandinavian), and the original Hebrew Mattityahu.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Matias
US Popularity History (2004–2025)
Annual US births named Matias by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2024 with 2,263 boys named Matias (boy rank #158 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #170 for boys (2,140 US births). That's 12 places below its 2024 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Matias Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Matias the strongest states are Texas, California, Florida.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | #114 | 3,317 |
| 2 | California | #123 | 3,484 |
| 3 | Florida | #149 | 1,389 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | #166 | 51 |
| 5 | New Jersey | #167 | 544 |
| 6 | Nevada | #169 | 197 |
| 7 | Rhode Island | #204 | 23 |
| 8 | Arizona | #216 | 404 |
| 9 | New Mexico | #218 | 107 |
| 10 | New York | #220 | 869 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Matias in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Looking for names like Matias?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Matias to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Matias against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).