Head to head · Boys' names
Matias vs Max
#170 vs #180 in 2025
Matias is a whisker ahead (#170 vs #180 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Matias is climbing the charts fast, Max is stepping back from its peak.
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: Matias and Max 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: Matias —, Max #175 — Max higher
- 1890s: Matias —, Max #143 — Max higher
- 1900s: Matias #1275, Max #139 — Max higher
- 1910s: Matias #1862, Max #105 — Max higher
- 1920s: Matias #1898, Max #125 — Max higher
- 1930s: Matias #1973, Max #139 — Max higher
- 1940s: Matias #1642, Max #197 — Max higher
- 1950s: Matias #2057, Max #262 — Max higher
- 1960s: Matias #2011, Max #351 — Max higher
- 1970s: Matias #2029, Max #383 — Max higher
- 1980s: Matias #1802, Max #283 — Max higher
- 1990s: Matias #1466, Max #179 — Max higher
- 2000s: Matias #945, Max #151 — Max higher
- 2010s: Matias #440, Max #116 — Max higher
- 2020s: Matias #188, Max #164 — Max higher
Max stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Matias | Max |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #175 |
| 1890s | — | #143 |
| 1900s | #1275 | #139 |
| 1910s | #1862 | #105 |
| 1920s | #1898 | #125 |
| 1930s | #1973 | #139 |
| 1940s | #1642 | #197 |
| 1950s | #2057 | #262 |
| 1960s | #2011 | #351 |
| 1970s | #2029 | #383 |
| 1980s | #1802 | #283 |
| 1990s | #1466 | #179 |
| 2000s | #945 | #151 |
| 2010s | #440 | #116 |
| 2020s | #188 | #164 |
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.
Max
- Scotland#25
- England & Wales#44
- Canada#86
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.
Max
greatest, from Latin maximus
That reading holds for Max as a short form of Maximus, Maximilian and Maxim. A smaller road runs through Maxwell, a Scottish surname from a place on the Tweed named for a man called Maccus — that Max carries no meaning of 'greatest' at all.
Maximus → Maximilianus → Maximilian → Max
How it traveled
Maximus began as a Roman cognomen, the superlative of magnus, and passed into early Christian usage through several saints of that name. Maximilian appears in the Habsburg family in the fifteenth century and spread through German-speaking Europe, where Max became the standard everyday form — the shape it kept when German-speaking families carried it to the United States and Britain.
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.
Max
MAKS
One syllable everywhere it is used, and the spelling gives it away on sight — rare for a name with this much international reach.
- Maxie — Affectionate, mostly used within families and in childhood; also spelled Maxi or Maxy.
- Maximilian — Not a nickname but the long form some parents register instead, keeping Max for daily use and a formal option in reserve.
- Maxwell — The other long form behind Max in English, drawn from the Scottish surname rather than from Latin.
Who has carried each name
Matias
No documented entry for Matias yet.
Max
Max Verstappen (b. 1997) — Four-time Formula 1 world champion
Max Planck (b. 1858) — Founded quantum theory
Max Born (b. 1882) — Nobel physicist — and Olivia Newton-John's grandfather
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 most people already know#170 in 2025, 2,140 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 46 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMatias runs 2 syllables, Max 1
- a newer arrivalMatias entered the US charts in 1904
Choose Max if you want…
- a name fewer children share#180 in 2025 — max will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsMax is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesMax is 1 syllable to Matias's 2
- a name that charts abroad tooMax is on the national lists of Scotland, England & Wales and 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.
Max
Strengths
- Spelled exactly as it sounds, in English and in several other languages, so it rarely needs repeating or correcting.
- Works unchanged across German, Dutch, English and Scandinavian settings — one of the few names that needs no translation at all.
- Comes with ready-made formal versions if wanted: Maximilian, Maximus, Maxim or Maxwell all shorten to it.
To consider
- Max is already the short form, so there is nowhere further to go. If you want a longer name on a diploma, that decision has to be made at registration — Maximilian, Maximus or Maxwell — rather than later.
- The final x runs into a following s or z sound, so surnames like Sanders or Zimmerman can blur the join. Worth saying the whole name aloud a few times.
- It is a well-established dog name as well as a boy's name, which draws the occasional joke. Most families find this passes quickly.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Matias
50%chance Matias feels dated by 2040
Matias 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.
Max
66%chance Max feels dated by 2040
Max is coming down from a big peak (#96 in 2011). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Matias and Max 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 Max?
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 these names appear on
- Names that begin and end with the same letter
- Names ending in -s
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- all guides
Where Matias and Max each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Matias or Max — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Matias or Max?
- Matias, in 2025: Matias ranked #170 with 2,140 babies; Max ranked #180 with 2,025 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Matias or Max?
- Matias. Over the last five years Matias moved up 46 places; Max moved down 33 places.
- Which is the older name, Matias or Max?
- Matias entered the US charts in 1904; Max was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Max is the older name.
- How many people are named Matias and Max?
- About 24,500 people named Matias are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 120,000 people named Max are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Matiass or Maxs in the classroom?
- Matias will almost certainly be the only one in school. Max 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
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