Head to head · Boys' names
Matias vs Matteo
#170 vs #146 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Matteo is a whisker ahead (#146 vs #170 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. 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, Matteo leads 4 measures of 6; Matias 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
- 1900s: Matias #1275, Matteo — — Matias higher
- 1910s: Matias #1862, Matteo #2053 — Matias higher
- 1920s: Matias #1898, Matteo #2063 — Matias higher
- 1930s: Matias #1973, Matteo #2870 — Matias higher
- 1940s: Matias #1642, Matteo #2862 — Matias higher
- 1950s: Matias #2057, Matteo #3824 — Matias higher
- 1960s: Matias #2011, Matteo #2978 — Matias higher
- 1970s: Matias #2029, Matteo #3121 — Matias higher
- 1980s: Matias #1802, Matteo #2891 — Matias higher
- 1990s: Matias #1466, Matteo #1873 — Matias higher
- 2000s: Matias #945, Matteo #696 — Matteo higher
- 2010s: Matias #440, Matteo #290 — Matteo higher
- 2020s: Matias #188, Matteo #158 — Matteo higher
Matias stood higher in 10 of 13 decades; Matteo has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Matias | Matteo |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | #1275 | — |
| 1910s | #1862 | #2053 |
| 1920s | #1898 | #2063 |
| 1930s | #1973 | #2870 |
| 1940s | #1642 | #2862 |
| 1950s | #2057 | #3824 |
| 1960s | #2011 | #2978 |
| 1970s | #2029 | #3121 |
| 1980s | #1802 | #2891 |
| 1990s | #1466 | #1873 |
| 2000s | #945 | #696 |
| 2010s | #440 | #290 |
| 2020s | #188 | #158 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Matias
Not charting outside the US.
Matteo
- Canada#61
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Matias
Gift of Yahweh — gift of God
From Hebrew Mattityahu, built from mattan, 'gift', and the divine name. Matthew comes from the same Hebrew root by a slightly different road, which is why the two names are cousins rather than variants.
Mattityahu → Matthias → Mathias → Matías → Matias
How it traveled
The Hebrew name Mattityahu was rendered as Matthias by the Greek translators who shaped the New Testament, where it belongs to the apostle chosen by lot to replace Judas among the twelve. Latin kept it as Mathias, and from there it spread through Christian Europe, losing its 'h' in the Iberian languages and gaining a written accent in Spanish: Matías.
Matteo
Gift of God
From the Hebrew name Mattityahu, built from a root meaning 'gift' plus a form of the divine name.
Mattityahu → Matthaios → Matthaeus → Matteo
How it traveled
The name begins as Hebrew Mattityahu, 'gift of Yahweh'. Greek-speaking Jews shortened it to Matthaios, the form attached to the first Gospel and to the apostle it is named for, and Latin turned that into Matthaeus.
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
Matias
mah-TEE-ahs
Spanish and Portuguese stress the middle syllable, which is how it is most often said in the US. Finnish speakers stress the first: MAH-tee-ahs. Both are correct for their own tradition, so it is worth deciding early which one your family will use.
- Mati — The standard informal short form in Spanish-speaking families; used at home and among friends rather than on documents.
- Matt — The English-language default, shared with Matthew and Matteo; useful at school, less distinctive.
- Tias — Heard in Nordic use, taken from the end of the name rather than the beginning.
- Matu — An affectionate form in parts of Latin America, mostly used by family.
Matteo
mah-TAY-oh
Stress on the middle syllable, with the double t given a crisp Italian tap. English speakers often say mat-TAY-oh, which passes without trouble.
- Matt — The everyday English short form; also long established as a given name on its own.
- Teo — Clips the front instead of the back; stands alone as a given name in Italy, Spain and much of Latin America.
- Matty — Informal and affectionate, common in childhood and in English-speaking families.
- Matte — Heard in Italian-speaking households as a casual clip.
One short form, two names
- Matias and Matteo both shorten to Matt.
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
Matias
No documented entry for Matias yet.
Matteo
Matteo Ricci (b. 1552) — Missionary-scholar who bridged Renaissance Europe and imperial China
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 Matias if you want…
- a name fewer children share#170 in 2025 — matias will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 46 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMatias is 2 syllables to Matteo's 3
Choose Matteo if you want…
- a name most people already know#146 in 2025, 2,455 babies that year
- a name with more sound in itMatteo runs 3 syllables, Matias 2
- a name that charts abroad tooMatteo is on the national lists of Canada
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
Matias
Strengths
- Works unchanged across Spanish, Portuguese and Finnish, so it crosses borders and family lines without needing a translation or a second spelling.
- Has established short forms in more than one language — Mati, Matt, Tias — rather than depending on a nickname you would have to invent.
- Nearly two thousand years of continuous written record behind it, from Greek scripture through Latin Europe to the present.
To consider
- The Spanish spelling is Matías, with an accent that US forms and databases routinely drop. Families who care about keeping it will spend some time correcting paperwork; families who don't will find the plain spelling perfectly settled here.
- It sits close to Mateo, Matteo, Mathias and Matthew, all of which are in active use. Expect a certain amount of being called the wrong one of the five, especially in a classroom.
- Stress placement genuinely differs between the Spanish and Finnish traditions, so a Matias with roots in both may hear his own name two ways at family gatherings.
Matteo
Strengths
- Two ready-made short forms pulling in opposite directions: Matt, thoroughly familiar in English, and Teo, which works across Italian and Spanish.
- The same name as Matthew, so it has a documented line running back to Hebrew and an unbroken record of use for two thousand years.
- Recognizable in Italian, Spanish, French, German, Polish and Hungarian, each with its own local form.
To consider
- Mateo, with one t, is the more common spelling in the US by a wide margin. Expect to correct the second t regularly, and to be asked which one you meant.
- Matt is the most likely nickname in an English-speaking school, which lands somewhere quite different in sound and register from Matteo. Some families love that flexibility; others find it undoes the name.
- The American wave is very recent, so nearly everyone carrying it here is a child. That will change as they grow, but for now the name reads young.
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 Matias and Matteo 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 Matias and Matteo?
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 these names appear on
- Names that begin and end with the same letter
- Names ending in -s
- About to go mainstream: next year's top-100
- The sweet spot: familiar but not everywhere
- all guides
Where Matias and Matteo each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Matias or Matteo — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Matias or Matteo?
- Matteo, in 2025: Matteo ranked #146 with 2,455 babies; Matias ranked #170 with 2,140 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Matias or Matteo?
- Matias. Over the last five years Matias moved up 46 places; Matteo moved up 27 places.
- Which is the older name, Matias or Matteo?
- Matias entered the US charts in 1904; Matteo entered the US charts in 1911. On the American record, Matias is the older name.
- How many people are named Matias and Matteo?
- About 24,500 people named Matias are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 33,000 people named Matteo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Matias and Matteo share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Matt, 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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