Head to head · Boys' names
Martin vs Mathias
#335 vs #312 in 2025
Mathias is a whisker ahead (#312 vs #335 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Mathias is climbing the charts fast, Martin is holding its place on the charts.
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, Mathias leads 3 measures of 6; Martin 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: Martin #50, Mathias #499 — Martin higher
- 1890s: Martin #62, Mathias #703 — Martin higher
- 1900s: Martin #75, Mathias #993 — Martin higher
- 1910s: Martin #78, Mathias #1143 — Martin higher
- 1920s: Martin #81, Mathias #1346 — Martin higher
- 1930s: Martin #89, Mathias #1625 — Martin higher
- 1940s: Martin #87, Mathias #2067 — Martin higher
- 1950s: Martin #78, Mathias #2144 — Martin higher
- 1960s: Martin #72, Mathias #2169 — Martin higher
- 1970s: Martin #115, Mathias #1692 — Martin higher
- 1980s: Martin #123, Mathias #1470 — Martin higher
- 1990s: Martin #140, Mathias #1446 — Martin higher
- 2000s: Martin #202, Mathias #925 — Martin higher
- 2010s: Martin #268, Mathias #564 — Martin higher
- 2020s: Martin #304, Mathias #381 — Martin higher
Martin stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Martin | Mathias |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #50 | #499 |
| 1890s | #62 | #703 |
| 1900s | #75 | #993 |
| 1910s | #78 | #1143 |
| 1920s | #81 | #1346 |
| 1930s | #89 | #1625 |
| 1940s | #87 | #2067 |
| 1950s | #78 | #2144 |
| 1960s | #72 | #2169 |
| 1970s | #115 | #1692 |
| 1980s | #123 | #1470 |
| 1990s | #140 | #1446 |
| 2000s | #202 | #925 |
| 2010s | #268 | #564 |
| 2020s | #304 | #381 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Martin
- France#34
Mathias
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Martin
of Mars
The Latin name derives from the war god, in the ordinary Roman way of forming names from divine ones, and the reading is settled. The irony is not lost on anyone: the saint who made the name universal was a Roman soldier who refused to fight, on the grounds that he was a soldier of Christ, and was imprisoned as a coward before being let go.
A Latin name formed from the war god → A fourth-century soldier who refused to fight → One of the most widely observed feast days in Europe → Martin in continuous use in every European language
How it traveled
The goose story appears early and stuck. The feast falls on the eleventh of November, which in the northern European farming year is the point where the grazing ends, the animals that cannot be overwintered are killed, the salting begins and the new wine is ready.
Mathias
gift of Yahweh (gift of God)
From Hebrew Mattityahu, combining a root meaning gift with the divine name.
Mattityahu → Matthias → Mathias
How it traveled
The name begins as Hebrew Mattityahu, borne by priests and warriors in the later books of the Hebrew scriptures. Greek-speaking Jews shortened it to Matthias, and in that form it appears in the Acts of the Apostles, where Matthias is chosen by lot to join the eleven after Judas.
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
Martin
MAR-tin
Two syllables, stress on the first, in English. French drops the final n into a nasal vowel and puts the stress at the back, and Spanish puts it at the back with an accent to say so, so the same spelling is said three ways across Europe.
- Marty — The American softening, unisex and thoroughly mid-century in feel.
- Tino — The Spanish and Italian clipping, taken from the back and sounding nothing like the front.
- Mart — Blunt and flat, and common in Dutch and Estonian use as a full name.
Mathias
muh-THY-us
That is the usual American reading. German and Scandinavian speakers say mah-TEE-ahs, and French speakers ma-TYAHSS — all three are correct for the name, so it is worth deciding which one your family will use.
- Matt — The default English short form; shared with every Matthew, so it rarely identifies a Mathias on its own.
- Matty — Informal and mostly used within families and in childhood.
- Mats — The Scandinavian clipping, long established there as an independent given name.
- Thias — A German-language short form, uncommon in English-speaking settings.
- Also Mati.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Martin if you want…
- a name fewer children share#335 in 2025 — martin will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyMartin is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesMartin is 2 syllables to Mathias's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMartin is on the national lists of France
Choose Mathias if you want…
- a name most people already know#312 in 2025, 1,087 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 116 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMathias runs 3 syllables, Martin 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Matt, Matty and Mats
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
Martin
Strengths
- It is used unchanged in more European languages than almost any other name.
- It is completely familiar, universally spellable and needs no explaining.
- It has an unbroken record of about seventeen hundred years.
To consider
- The stress falls differently in English, French and Spanish, which a bilingual family will notice.
- It is also an extremely common surname, which occasionally causes confusion on forms.
- The spelling is on the register for girls as well, in very small numbers.
Mathias
Strengths
- Carries a meaning that is settled rather than argued over, and one parents can state in four words: gift of God.
- Recognizable in German, Spanish, Scandinavian, Hungarian and Czech, each with its own established spelling.
- Comes with ready-made short forms — Matt, Matty, Mats — none of which had to be invented.
To consider
- The spelling will need repeating. Matthias, Mattias, Matias and Mathias all circulate, and people who hear the name spoken will guess wrong roughly as often as right.
- Pronunciation is genuinely split between muh-THY-us and mah-TEE-ahs, so a Mathias may spend his life correcting one or the other — or answering to both.
- Shortened to Matt, he joins a very large crowd, since the Matthew line supplies most of them.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Martin
12%chance Martin feels dated by 2040
Martin has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Mathias
52%chance Mathias feels dated by 2040
Mathias is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Martin and Mathias 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 Martin and Mathias?
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 Martin and Mathias — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Martin or Mathias — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Martin or Mathias?
- Mathias, in 2025: Mathias ranked #312 with 1,087 babies; Martin ranked #335 with 1,009 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Martin or Mathias?
- Mathias. Over the last five years Martin moved down 42 places; Mathias moved up 116 places.
- Which is the older name, Martin or Mathias?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Martin and Mathias?
- About 204,000 people named Martin are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 14,000 people named Mathias are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Martins or Mathiass in the classroom?
- Martin will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mathias will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. 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 Martin, Mathias and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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