Mathilda
Feminine · “mighty in battle”
Mathilda is the Germanic original with an English th. It is a compound of two plain words — might and battle — and it belonged to empresses and queens for four centuries before it belonged to anybody else.
How old is the name Mathilda?
Mathilda was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Mathilda alive today was born around 1916, making them about 109 years old. About 1,400 people named Mathilda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mathilda most popular?
Mathilda peaked in 1883, reaching #167 nationally. Today it ranks #4352, 4,185 places below that high. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Mahthildis to Mathilda
The story of Mathilda
Mahthildis was a tenth-century Saxon queen and saint, and the name traveled with her family across Europe. The Conqueror's wife carried it to England, and so did the Empress Matilda, who fought a nineteen-year civil war for the English throne. English wore the spoken form down to Maud, but the written Matilda survived alongside it, and Scandinavian and German influence gave the th spelling that American records show from the nineteenth century, peaking around 1890.
Meaning
mighty in battle
From the Germanic maht, 'might' or 'strength', and hild, 'battle'. Frankish and Saxon naming built compounds from pairs of ordinary nouns, and this one is entirely transparent. The same hild element appears in Hilda, Brunhild and Clothilde.
How the name formed
- Mahthildis
- Matilda
- Mathilda
Related forms: Mathilde · Mathilda · Machteld · Matilda
Pronouncing Mathilda
muh-TIL-duh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. The th is said as a plain t in English; German and Swedish do the same.
Nicknames for Mathilda
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1918180 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #167reached in 1883
- Change vs 2022
- −11.1%32 in 2025, from 36
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Mathilda in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mathilde in German — related form
- Mathilda in Swedish — same name
- Machteld in Dutch — related form
- Matilda in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Mathildas among us
people named Mathilda are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 50,227 born in 2025 was named Mathilda
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Mathilda sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Mathilda is headed
Mathilda should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Mathilda beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mathilda in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented royal name with an unbroken thousand-year record across several countries.
- The meaning is transparent and both elements are well attested.
- Tilly and Maud are both available and could hardly be more different.
- Matilda without the h is far commoner in English and will be assumed.
- The th spelling reads as continental, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
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What they receive
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Mathilda
Feminine · #4352 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mathildas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Mathilda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mathilda in 2025?
- Mathilda ranks #4352 among US girl names in 2025, with 32 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mathilda?
- About 1 in every 50,227 US girls born in 2025 was named Mathilda — 32 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mathilda with classmates?
- Mathilda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mathilda
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sigrid#4352 · Adel#4352 · Lovella#4352 · Kaysha#4352 · Arissa#4352 · Joseline#4352 · Yajaira#4352 · Elma#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mathilda? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mathilda and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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