Head to head · Boys' names
Marco vs Matthias
#370 vs #372 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Marco is a whisker ahead (#370 vs #372 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Marco leads 4 measures of 6; Matthias leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Marco —, Matthias #861 — Matthias higher
- 1890s: Marco —, Matthias #1041 — Matthias higher
- 1910s: Marco #1133, Matthias #1623 — Marco higher
- 1920s: Marco #1022, Matthias #2560 — Marco higher
- 1930s: Marco #1099, Matthias #2882 — Marco higher
- 1940s: Marco #992, Matthias #2789 — Marco higher
- 1950s: Marco #663, Matthias #3071 — Marco higher
- 1960s: Marco #420, Matthias #1930 — Marco higher
- 1970s: Marco #258, Matthias #1867 — Marco higher
- 1980s: Marco #239, Matthias #1360 — Marco higher
- 1990s: Marco #190, Matthias #1297 — Marco higher
- 2000s: Marco #200, Matthias #930 — Marco higher
- 2010s: Marco #313, Matthias #577 — Marco higher
- 2020s: Marco #384, Matthias #444 — Marco higher
Marco stood higher in 12 of 14 decades; Marco has held the lead since the 1910s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Marco | Matthias |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #861 |
| 1890s | — | #1041 |
| 1910s | #1133 | #1623 |
| 1920s | #1022 | #2560 |
| 1930s | #1099 | #2882 |
| 1940s | #992 | #2789 |
| 1950s | #663 | #3071 |
| 1960s | #420 | #1930 |
| 1970s | #258 | #1867 |
| 1980s | #239 | #1360 |
| 1990s | #190 | #1297 |
| 2000s | #200 | #930 |
| 2010s | #313 | #577 |
| 2020s | #384 | #444 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Marco
Of Mars — the Roman god of war
The link between Marcus and Mars is the accepted reading. What the god's own name meant before Latin is lost, so the trail ends there rather than at a tidy translation.
Marcus → Marco → Marcos
How it traveled
Marcus was one of roughly a dozen praenomina that Roman men actually used, which is why it turns up on so many tombstones and in so many histories. Through Latin it passed into Italian as Marco, into Spanish and Portuguese as Marcos and Marco, into French as Marc and into English as Mark.
Matthias
Gift of Yahweh
From Hebrew Mattityahu, from mattath 'gift' and the divine name. Matthew comes from the same Hebrew source through a slightly different Greek spelling, which is why the two names look and mean so much alike.
Mattityahu → Matthias (Greek) → Matthias (Latin) → Mathias → Matthias
How it traveled
The Hebrew name Mattityahu reached Greek in two shapes, Matthaios and Matthias, and both survived. Matthias is the one used in the Acts of the Apostles for the man chosen by lot to fill the twelfth place after Judas, which fixed the spelling in Latin scripture and sent it across Christian Europe.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Marco
MAR-koh
Stress on the first syllable everywhere. Italian and Spanish speakers tap or roll the r and keep the o crisp; English speakers usually flatten it to MAR-koh. Both are the same name and no one will be confused.
- Marc — Used informally in English- and French-speaking families; also stands alone as a full given name.
- Marquito — Spanish diminutive, used within families and by close friends rather than in formal settings.
- Marky — An English playground and family shortening, more common in childhood than adulthood.
- Co — A clipped household nickname, used only by people who already know him well.
Matthias
muh-THY-us
That is the usual English reading. German and Scandinavian speakers say mah-TEE-ahs, and Spanish Matías is mah-TEE-as; families with those ties often keep their own version, so it is worth deciding early which one you will offer when introducing him.
- Matt — The everyday short form in English, shared with Matthew and Matteo; long established as a standalone given name too.
- Matty — Informal and affectionate, common in childhood and among family.
- Thias — Used in German-speaking families, clipped from the back of the name rather than the front.
- Mat — A one-t spelling of the short form, less common than Matt.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Marco if you want…
- a name holding steadyMarco is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesMarco is 2 syllables to Matthias's 3
- a newer arrivalMarco entered the US charts in 1910
Choose Matthias if you want…
- a name on the way upup 54 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMatthias runs 3 syllables, Marco 2
- a long American recordMatthias was already in use when US records began in 1880
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Marco
Strengths
- Spelled exactly as it sounds, in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese alike — rarely misspelled once heard.
- An unbroken record from Roman Latin to the present, with no gap where the name fell out of use.
- Two syllables and already short, so it needs no nickname to be everyday.
To consider
- The swimming-pool game means a child called Marco will hear his own name shouted across a lot of water, usually followed by "Polo." Most Marcos find this funny long before adults stop worrying about it.
- There is little room to shorten it, so the name he gets is the name he keeps. If you like a formal-and-casual pair, this one does not really offer one.
- Marcos, Marko and Mark all circle nearby, so expect the occasional form to be filled in wrong — an easy correction, but a lifelong one.
Matthias
Strengths
- Ready-made short forms: Matt and Matty are already understood everywhere in English, with no explaining required.
- Recognizable across German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Hungarian and Spanish-speaking families, in forms close enough to be identified as the same name.
- A documented line running from Hebrew through Greek and Latin into modern European languages, unbroken for two thousand years.
To consider
- It is constantly heard as Matthew, and Matt belongs to both. If the full form matters to you, expect to correct people for years — and to hear him introduced as Matt anyway.
- Two spellings compete, Matthias and Mathias, and two pronunciations do as well: muh-THY-us in English, mah-TEE-as in German and Scandinavian mouths. Neither is wrong, which is precisely why both keep coming back.
- Its recent American growth means most people carrying it here are still young; the name reads as newer in the US than its long European history suggests.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Marco and Matthias in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Marco and Matthias?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Marco and Matthias — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Marco or Matthias — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Marco or Matthias?
- Marco, in 2025: Marco ranked #370 with 862 babies; Matthias ranked #372 with 854 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Marco or Matthias?
- Matthias. Over the last five years Marco moved up 23 places; Matthias moved up 54 places.
- Which is the older name, Marco or Matthias?
- Marco entered the US charts in 1910; Matthias was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Matthias is the older name.
- How many people are named Marco and Matthias?
- About 72,000 people named Marco are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 13,000 people named Matthias are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Marcos or Matthiass in the classroom?
- Marco will almost certainly be the only one in school. Matthias will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Marco, Matthias and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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