Head to head · Boys' names
Mateo vs Matthew
#8 vs #32 in 2025
Mateo is a whisker ahead (#8 vs #32 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Mateo is climbing the charts fast, Matthew 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
The tape is even: Mateo and Matthew each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Mateo —, Matthew #130 — Matthew higher
- 1890s: Mateo —, Matthew #140 — Matthew higher
- 1900s: Mateo #1205, Matthew #167 — Matthew higher
- 1910s: Mateo #2234, Matthew #152 — Matthew higher
- 1920s: Mateo #2126, Matthew #172 — Matthew higher
- 1930s: Mateo #2287, Matthew #201 — Matthew higher
- 1940s: Mateo #2272, Matthew #193 — Matthew higher
- 1950s: Mateo #2314, Matthew #113 — Matthew higher
- 1960s: Mateo #2246, Matthew #42 — Matthew higher
- 1970s: Mateo #1776, Matthew #11 — Matthew higher
- 1980s: Mateo #1771, Matthew #3 — Matthew higher
- 1990s: Mateo #1036, Matthew #3 — Matthew higher
- 2000s: Mateo #313, Matthew #6 — Matthew higher
- 2010s: Mateo #99, Matthew #16 — Matthew higher
- 2020s: Mateo #11, Matthew #34 — Mateo higher
Matthew stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Mateo took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mateo | Matthew |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #130 |
| 1890s | — | #140 |
| 1900s | #1205 | #167 |
| 1910s | #2234 | #152 |
| 1920s | #2126 | #172 |
| 1930s | #2287 | #201 |
| 1940s | #2272 | #193 |
| 1950s | #2314 | #113 |
| 1960s | #2246 | #42 |
| 1970s | #1776 | #11 |
| 1980s | #1771 | #3 |
| 1990s | #1036 | #3 |
| 2000s | #313 | #6 |
| 2010s | #99 | #16 |
| 2020s | #11 | #34 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Mateo
- Canada#52
Matthew
- Canada#62
- Scotland#79
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Mateo
Gift of God
From Hebrew Mattityahu, combining a word for gift with the divine name Yah.
Mattityahu → Matthaios → Matthaeus → Mateo
How it traveled
The name begins as Hebrew Mattityahu, borne by the tax collector who became one of the twelve apostles and whose name was attached to the first gospel. Greek writers rendered it Matthaios, Latin made it Matthaeus, and from there it spread with the Church across Europe, shedding syllables in each language it entered — Matthew in English, Matteo in Italian, Mateus in Portuguese, Mateo in Spanish.
Matthew
gift of the Lord
Mattityahu joins mattat, a gift, with a short form of the divine name: the Lord's gift, or the Lord has given. It is the same construction as Jonathan and Nathaniel, built on the same verb about giving, and the same idea that Greek renders as Theodore and Dorothy. Nothing here is contested. The Greek form Matthaios lost the Hebrew ending and gained a Greek one, and every European version descends from that.
Mattityahu → Matthaios → Mattheus → Matthew
How it traveled
Two men in the New Testament carry versions of this name, and they are the same name in different disguises: Matthew the evangelist and Matthias, chosen by lot to replace Judas among the twelve. Greek simply shortened Mattityahu two different ways, and English inherited both as separate names without noticing they were one.
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
Mateo
mah-TAY-oh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Some English speakers reduce the first vowel to muh-TAY-oh; both are heard and neither causes confusion.
- Teo — Common informal short form; also given on its own, where it usually comes from Teodoro or Teo directly.
- Mati — Informal, widespread in Spanish-speaking families; also serves Matías, so it can be shared between the two.
- Matt — The English short form, used when the name sits in an English-speaking setting; more often heard from Matthew.
- Mateíto — Spanish affectionate diminutive, used within families rather than in public or formal contexts.
Matthew
MATH-yoo
MATH-yoo, two syllables, stress at the front, the th soft as in the word the. Some say MAT-yoo, dropping the th sound entirely, which is common and unremarkable. The double t is a Greek and Latin spelling inheritance and does nothing audible.
- Matt — The front clipped, and what nearly every Matthew is called by the second week of school.
- Matty — The same clipping softened; it belongs to childhood and to family more than to work.
- Teo — Taken from the back rather than the front, which is the Spanish and Italian habit and sounds like a different name.
- Thew — The last syllable alone, rare in America and heard occasionally in Britain.
One short form, two names
- Mateo and Matthew both shorten to Matt.
- Mateo and Matthew both shorten to Teo.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Who has carried each name
Mateo
Mateo Kovačić (b. 1994) — Champions League-winning midfielder
Matthew
Matthew McConaughey (b. 1969) — Oscar winner (Dallas Buyers Club)
Matthew Perry (b. 1969) — Friends' Chandler Bing
Matthew Broderick (b. 1962) — Ferris Bueller himself
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Mateo if you want…
- a name most people already know#8 in 2025, 11,045 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 12 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMateo runs 3 syllables, Matthew 2
- a newer arrivalMateo entered the US charts in 1904
Choose Matthew if you want…
- a name fewer children share#32 in 2025 — roughly 1 in 10 classrooms will have a child named Matthew
- a name holding steadyMatthew is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesMatthew is 2 syllables to Mateo's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMatthew is on the national lists of Canada and Scotland
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
Mateo
Strengths
- Recognizable in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and English through its close cousins, so it travels between languages without translation.
- Spelled the way it sounds in both Spanish and English — a reader who has never seen it can usually say it.
- A documented line running from Hebrew through Greek and Latin to the modern Spanish form, unbroken for two millennia.
To consider
- Mateo and the Italian Matteo are constantly confused. Expect to spell it out, and to see the double-t version on forms and name tags.
- Many boys of this very young generation carry it, so a classroom may hold more than one. That fades as the wave moves through school.
- English speakers who know Matthew sometimes default to Matt, which loses the Spanish shape of the name if that matters to you.
Matthew
Strengths
- It has been in continuous ordinary use in English for four centuries without ever becoming a period marker.
- Matt is a complete working name rather than a clipping that needs the long form behind it.
- Every language that received the Gospels has a version of it, so it travels without translation.
To consider
- Mathew with one t is a real alternative spelling, so the double t has to be given more often than the name's familiarity suggests.
- It is a name a great many people already have, and a Matthew will rarely be the only one in a room over a lifetime.
- Matt is so automatic that a family wanting the full name used will have to insist, repeatedly, and will usually lose.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Mateo
70%chance Mateo feels dated by 2040
Mateo 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.
Matthew
12%chance Matthew feels dated by 2040
Matthew has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Mateo and Matthew 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 Mateo and Matthew?
Put both to the vote.
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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
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- all guides
Every list here names both Mateo and Matthew — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mateo or Matthew — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mateo or Matthew?
- Mateo, in 2025: Mateo ranked #8 with 11,045 babies; Matthew ranked #32 with 7,003 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mateo or Matthew?
- Mateo. Over the last five years Mateo moved up 12 places; Matthew moved down 2 places.
- Which is the older name, Mateo or Matthew?
- Mateo entered the US charts in 1904; Matthew was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Matthew is the older name.
- How many people are named Mateo and Matthew?
- About 125,000 people named Mateo are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 1,536,000 people named Matthew are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Mateo and Matthew share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Matt and Teo, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
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
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